Convergent communications platform and method for mobile and electronic commerce in a heterogeneous network environment

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for providing mobile commerce, electronic commerce, customer care and communication services via a plurality of networks, including receiving in a roaming network from a user device, an identification number and a request for a service, forwarding from the roaming network, to a home network, the identification number, the request for the service, and adding a service provider identification number that relates to a service provider and a cost or rate of the service, if the service is to be charged, verifying, by a convergent communication platform located on the home network, that the identification number relates to a valid user account, that the user device is authorized to receive the service and that the valid user account has sufficient value to pay for the service, providing an authorization to the service provider, if the identification number relates to the valid user account, the user device is authorized to receive the service and the valid user account has sufficient value, if the service is to be charged and charging the valid user account on a real time basis, if necessary, for providing the service, if the service is to be charged.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S.application Ser. No. 09/395,868, filed Sep. 14, 1999, now pending, whichclaims the priority of U.S. application Ser. Nos. 60/100,440 and60/100,470, both filed Sep. 15, 1998, the contents of each beingincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a convergent communicationssystem for providing services to individual and corporate customersworldwide. More specifically, the invention relates to a convergentcommunications system that provides mobile commerce, electronic commerceand communication services through existing communication switcheswithout specific hardware located at those switches. This systemsupports the use of pre-paid and post-paid accounts across heterogeneousnetworks to provide a large range of advanced communication servicesregardless of a customer's location.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] It is known to pay for services ahead of time (pre-paid), as wellas establishing a credit account for services (post-paid). A post-paidaccount is established based on the credit worthiness of a customer, andthe corporate entity establishing the post-paid account then vouches forthe continued credit worthiness of a customer. Post-paid accounts arewell known and widely used.

[0006] For example, it is known to establish a post-paid telephoneaccess account. A customer can then make long distance phone calls oraccess the phone network when roaming in a visiting network, differentfrom a home network, by using the post-paid account. The telephonecompany then guarantees payment to any other companies providing roamingservices based on the customer's credit worthiness. In addition, forseveral years mobile operators have offered roaming services to theircustomers. Typically, mobile operators enter into a roaming agreementwith partner operators in different geographies, such as othercountries, and allow their customers to use their mobile phones in thesepartner countries or different networks. The home network stands aspayment guarantor for the calls made by their customers in visitingnetworks. Visiting networks provide the facility of making and receivingcalls to the home network subscribers and collect, process and forwardthe usage data to the caller's home network for payment. The homenetwork then pays the visiting network.

[0007] At a periodic interval, the home network telephone company billsits customer and collects the money from the customer. Typically, suchtransactions involve significant time delays, e.g., anywhere between afew days to a few months. Therefore, the home network must stand aspayment guarantor to the visiting network for the calls made by itscustomers. Due to this, currently the home network is able to offerroaming only to its post-paid customers (whose creditworthiness isestablished). With the increase in the pre-paid subscriber base, telecooperators worldwide want to offer roaming services to their pre-paidcustomers as well. Today, due to the inherent nature of non-real-timeprocessing of call usage for roaming customers, operators are not in aposition to offer true pre-paid roaming to their customers.

[0008] Further, it is known to establish a post-paid credit account witha bank or other lending institution, and then use that post-paid accountto purchase goods and services. Occasionally, a post-paid credit accountand roaming telephone services can be combined, such as when a creditcard number is exchanged over a wireless telephone link to orderservices. There are limitations to this system. For example, customersmay wish to limit their financial exposure in an account, or may notwish to establish credit with the telephone company. These customers canestablish a pre-paid account. However, existing pre-paid accountarrangements have several limitations.

[0009] For example, a pre-paid mobile or wireless phone user may want touse his/her wireless phone while in a territory covered by another phonecompany. As used hereafter, this is referred to as a visiting or roamingterritory or network. While the pre-paid customer may have sufficientcredit to complete the phone call using other accounts, such as a creditcard, the customer has not established “credit” with the phone companyof the roaming territory, or even his original phone company (“homenetwork” or “home territory”), by virtue of being a pre-paid customer.Thus, a pre-paid customer in a roaming territory (“a pre-paid roamer”)has no way of having his/her pre-paid home phone company account debitedwhile roaming, unless the roaming network phone company has an agreementwith the home network phone company, and has specific hardware at eachswitch to monitor the call, and debit the customer's pre-paid account.As these agreements are generally impractical to create, there exists noeffective prepaid roaming.

[0010] Pre-paid telephony has existed in the telecommunicationsindustry. A customer or user is required to pay a certain amount ofmoney in advance to the communications service provider, and the serviceprovider allows the customer to use the communications services for thatpre-paid amount. Once the user account balance reaches zero, the serviceprovider cuts-off the service. The customer then has to recharge his/heraccount by paying the communications service provider additional funds.The pre-paid account thus needs to be maintained as current.

[0011] To enable pre-paid communications services, service providersneed to control the actual use of funds in the customer pre-paid accountin real time (i.e., as the service is being delivered) and the serviceprovider needs a system that can calculate the use of the account fundsas the customer call is progressing in real time. There are severalsystems available in the marketplace for the service providers thatallow for such a real time usage control. Commercially availabletechnologies today enable service providers to control the calls in realtime or near real time using several methods.

[0012] A first method is a pre-paid platform working as a service nodeto the telephony-switching network. Calls might flow through thepre-paid platform, or the service node pre-paid platform may control thecalls in a semi-intelligent network fashion (i.e., where the platforminstructs the switching network to connect/disconnect without callsactually being routed through the system). A pre-paid platform cantherefore work as an intelligent network node on the IN (intelligentnetwork) enabled telephony-switching networks.

[0013] It is also possible to offer pre-paid services based onprocessing of Call Data Records (“CDR's”) periodically at very shortintervals. Switching systems allow for the usage information to bepassed onto the service provider's billing system, for example, througha hot-CDR port where the telephone company switches are configured tosupply the usage information to the billing system at frequentintervals. It is also possible to offer pre-paid services based onprogramming a card to take advantage of Advice of Charge (“AoC”)parameters, which restricts the call usage. However, since using CallData Records is prone to fraud, mobile operators worldwide arediscontinuing their use. Also AoC does not offer flexibility inconfiguring a rate of use.

[0014] Traditional pre-paid systems require the call control equipment,i.e., both the software and hardware, to be co-located with the switch.The pre-paid system is connected with the telecommunication switch overa signaling link (e.g., SS7, MF2RC, or ISDN-PRI, etc). When a callermakes a phone call, the switch routes the signaling information over thesignaling link to the pre-paid system. Then the pre-paid systemauthorizes the call and asks the switch to connect the call. Thepre-paid system also initiates a rating process for that call. Therating process keeps track of the usage of the pre-paid account of thecaller and when the balance runs out, the system asks the switch todisconnect the call.

[0015] Deployment of this type of system for pre-paid roaming isinefficient. For pre-paid roaming, all the participating and oftenheterogeneous networks need to have the same prepaid system. This means,that multiple pre-paid call control equipment needs to be deployed foreach participating network. This can be a logistic nightmare for severalreasons. First, initial deployment of equipment at all participatingnetworks can be time consuming and expensive. Second, regular operationsand maintenance (e.g., tariff plan updates, management informationsystem information, etc.) are logistically difficult on a daily basis.

[0016] In addition, roaming services require data clearing andsettlement of financial transactions. Multiparty settlements acrossvarious network systems can be very complex. Customer account set up andmanagement across networks can be very complex and any delay couldresult in enormous inconsistencies and confusion for customers.Customers could exhaust their pre-paid account balance while in avisiting network. The customer should be able to add money or “recharge”his/her account from a visiting network. Customer recharge from avisiting network poses several issues including: how to allow for acustomer account recharge when the customer is not a customer of thevisiting network service provider, how to manage the financialtransaction related to payment management and settlement of rechargeamounts (e.g., issues related to dealer commissions, the rechargeservice facilitation process and transfer of money between the homenetwork and visiting network, etc.).

[0017] If the customer requires some help regarding his/her account,e.g., billing information or additional service, etc., the questionarises of whom will he/she contact for customer service. The visitingnetwork may not have all the information related to the customer, andthe information at the home network is not necessarily be current. Thevisiting network may want to offer value-added services like simplemessaging service (“SMS”), data services, and call related services(e.g., call conferencing, call waiting, etc.) to the roaming customer(which value-added services are available to the same customer in thehome network while he/she is not roaming). An additional problem ariseswhen information between the home network and visiting network needs tobe synchronized for a pre-paid roaming customer.

[0018] Most telephone companies today have in-house informationtechnology (“IT”) systems for operational and business management. Theircurrent pre-paid systems are integrated with such in-house operationaland business management systems. Telephone companies would like to havethe same level of integration between their pre-paid roaming system andin-house IT systems so that they can manage their business efficiently.Deployment of several pre-paid roaming systems could mean severalintegrations. This could be, by itself, time-consuming and expensive.

[0019] For a post-paid customer, telephone companies are willing to takethe customer payment or financial risk as the home network has alreadyevaluated the creditworthiness of the customer and the home network iswilling to underwrite that payment risk. However, in case of a pre-paidcustomer, the home network may not even know whom the customer is, e.g.,it could be an anonymous customer. This means that both the visitingnetwork and home network need to have constant agreements for all typesof transactions (e.g., communication services as well as commercetransactions).

[0020] Telephone companies also offer customer care to their customers.However, telephone companies offer customer care to their subscribersonly when the subscribers are in their home network. If the subscriberis roaming, he can dial into the home network's customer care center anduse this facility. Offering customer care beyond the home networkservice area, however, is difficult due to the fact that customerinformation is not available at the visiting network. Some telephonecompany operators are able to provide limited customer care at thevisiting networks. However, so far such systems can only accommodatepost-paid customers.

[0021] With the increase in the pre-paid subscriber base and withgrowing mobile commerce opportunities, customer care becomes veryimportant for pre-paid customers. Broadly speaking, customers haveseveral requirements from a customer care service perspective:information related to service available at the visiting network orterritory location (e.g., can the customer send a fax using his/hermobile phone), information related to the local territory (e.g., who isthe nearest doctor), information related to how to use the visitingnetwork service (e.g., how the customer make a call to XYZ destination;how does the customer send a fax using his/her mobile phone which issupplied by a visiting network vendor), account inquiry services (e.g.,what is the current balance in the customer's pre-paid account; what arethe last five transactions the customer has done and how much did thetransactions cost), account/service profile information modificationservices (e.g., the customer may want to change his/her address; thecustomer may want to subscribe to a new service so that he/she can senda fax), disputes/complaints (e.g., the customer had tried ten times andthe call dropped every time and hence the customer does not want to payfor the call; the customer never made a call to XYZ destination),recharging of the customer's pre-paid account from various sources(e.g., the customer has run out of funds in his/her account, and he/shewants to top up using a recharge voucher, his/her bank account, cash orsome other means).

[0022] The telephone company business is complex. Any teleco servicedelivery requires various systems to work in tandem to manage customerexpectations, e.g., making service available, as well as providingcomplete and accurate information at the right place at the right timeso that the customer is served efficiently. Telephone company systemsalso need to make sure that internal operations of the telephone companyare optimized. That means complete and accurate information needs to bemade available at the right time and the right place for the internalstaff of the telephone company to use it to effectively manage business.Telephone company systems also need to make sure that they co-exist orare compatible with other third party telephone companies and serviceproviders so that they can collectively offer service to the customers,and manage their business, share revenues, etc. To cater to such largeand complex needs of telephone companies/service providers, there is noone single system that can offer the entire functionality. Typically,suppliers, integrators, and telephone companies work together tocustomize and integrate several different systems to cater to aparticular telephone company's needs.

[0023] As the pre-paid communication service business was initiallyanticipated to be a separate service, telephone companies typically haveadopted a single company-specific system that can control the calls inreal time (or near real time with varied definitions of the phrase “realtime”). As the pre-paid communications business has started to grow at arapid pace worldwide, service providers feel a need to integrate theirpre-paid systems with other systems so as to effectively serve theircustomers and manage business.

[0024] However, pre-paid roaming poses several challenges to thetelephone company industry. All the participating networks need to havea common understanding of how to manage the call flow, how to offerservices, and how to manage business. However, with several systemsintegrated in several manners across various networks there are quite afew challenges to pre-paid roaming. One fundamental issue is how toachieve a “seamless” service to the customer and effective businessmanagement across several participating networks, often heterogeneous ordifferent types of networks. For example, one service provider operatormay have an excellent customer care center whereas another operator maynot have such a high quality customer care center, or one operator mayhave a high quality voucher generation/management system while the otheroperator is managing most of these processes manually. Simple or complexintegration of several different systems together does not offer abusiness solution due to varied permutations and combinations for thetelephone companies. Also, it is impractical to expect one or more ofthe telephone companies to abandon their existing systems and adopt anentirely new system no matter how qualitatively good the new system is.

[0025] Known pre-paid systems are single box solutions, which allow forlimited integration with external systems. Even in a situation where itis feasible to integrate, it is not possible for other systems to enterinto the pre-paid system at various levels. That is, integration toreplace some of the functionality of the pre-paid system is notpossible. Integration to add additional functionality is what needs tobe achieved. This is a major limitation for the telephone companies toeffectively manage their business. For example, if a telephone companyalready has a Personal Identification Number (PIN) generation system, ifit would like to deploy a prepaid system for roaming, it needs to usethe PIN generation capability of the new pre-paid roaming system ratherthan the old system. That means, the telephone company now needs to havetwo separate PIN generation systems—one for non-roaming subscribers andanother for roaming subscribers. This causes a lot of confusion in themarketplace and mere integration with a third party system will notsolve the problem. There are other such problems, e.g., distributionmanagement, customer administration, etc.

[0026] In addition to the foregoing, when mobile operators enable mobilecommerce for a pre-paid roamer in a converged communications andcommerce environment, there is a need for financial settlements tovarious parties involved in the commerce transaction made by thepre-paid roaming customer. Settlement of commerce transactions couldadditionally involve the following: payments related to commercetransactions may need to be distributed across one or more of thefollowing entities: merchant (provider of goods/service eithermanufacturer, reseller or distributor or a combination of several suchentities), portal (mobile portal or any other type of portal including avoice portal (“Vortal”), e-commerce portal, etc.), Internet serviceprovider (an independent agency or mobile operator itself or portalitself), mobile phone company (home network, visiting network, or both),virtual service provider (either content service provider orinfrastructure service provider or a branding agency or anycombination), bank/credit card agency or any other financial institution(one or more involved in the transaction), third party payment agency(e.g., a merchant aggregator, payment processing agency, e-wallet, orany such payment processing agency), goods/service delivery agency(e.g., a courier company, bandwidth supplier, and insurance agency). Itis also possible that mobile service providers may offer some bundledpackages (e.g., if the customer buys $50 worth of goods while roaming, aroaming surcharge on telephony is waived, etc.). This means anysettlement system should be capable of arriving at the varioussettlement amounts based on the tariff plans and roaming agreementsbetween the various parties involved in the commerce transaction.

[0027] It is anticipated that mobile handling devices (phones, PDAs,etc.) will be used for all types of payments especially micro payments.Typically, a customer would use his mobile phone to pay for small valueitems, such as soft drinks at vending machines, cigarettes, newspapers,books, parking tolls, and other such low value payments which aregenerally known in the industry as the micro payments.

[0028] Existing technologies today allow for such payments to take placein one of the following ways: a customer can use his/her mobile phoneand at the time of payment he/she can use his/her credit card or bank'sdebit card for payment. This means, payment would go thru thebanking/credit account of the customer rather than the customer'stelephony account. This method has limitations in that it assumes thatall customers have either a bank debit card or a credit card. Presentgrowth of pre-paid mobile telephony worldwide indicates that there is abig segment of the market that either does not have any banking/creditrelationship or simply does not wish to use their banking/creditrelationship for telephony. This is particularly true in certaindeveloping countries with poor banking arrangements. Debit/Credit cardassumption also limits the total number of customers who can conductmobile commerce, and therefore the telephony company may only be playinga very limited role in mobile commerce. Telephone company revenuesnormally are restricted to the telephony connections and services theyhave provided. However, a customer could use his/her mobile telephonyaccount for payment of a commercial transaction. That is, the cost ofgoods/services will be charged to the customer's telephony account. Atthe end of the month, the customer would get a teleco bill, whichinclude the cost of the goods/services purchased. This method haslimitations in that it assumes that the customer is a post-paid accountcustomer. That means the system does not accommodate a pre-paid customerand thus cannot conduct a mobile commerce transaction. Instead, thesystem assumes that the payment risk is carried by the telephone companyor by the merchant. At the end of the billing period, if the customerdoes not pay his/her bill, the telephone company/merchant has to absorbthe financial risk.

[0029] Customers can have an e-wallet account, which is an account witha Personal Identification Number. Every time, the customer purchasesgoods, he or she can key in the PIN, and the e-wallet company (e.g.,IPIN) can issue a payment guarantee. In this method, e-wallet works as apre-paid account and only if the money balance is available in theaccount will a purchase transaction be authorized. This method haslimitations because every time a purchase is requested, a user isrequired to identify him/herself (e.g., using a PIN, which is typicallyof 12 digits or more). This identification process itself can act as adeterrent and customers may not be interested going through the processfor small value purchases. The telephony company again would only beplaying a very limited role in the mobile commerce, as its revenues orcharges are restricted to the telephony connection it has provided.

[0030] To simplify the mobile commerce purchase process, industry isseeking innovative technologies, such as Bluetooth, which allows fordirect communication between vending machines and a customer's mobilephone. These technologies, however, also have limitations in thatmerchants as well as the customer need to be equipped with instrumentsthat are capable of handling these technologies. This means higherset-up costs. Cost economics may not justify the investment at least inthe earlier years, and these technologies do not address the issuesrelated to payment risk. These systems assume that all the customers aretrust worthy and will honor their payments. In real life, this is notthe case. In addition, these technologies do not address the issuesrelated to pre-paid customers. Pre-paid customers could be anonymous,which means neither the telephone company nor the merchant knows who thepurchaser is.

[0031] In the electronic commerce world today, read/write memory devicesare becoming more popular. Read/write memory devices have the capabilityto store an account balance, and other information related to thecustomer. Read/write memory devices do not need any network connectionto the back-end systems. Read/write memory device readers can bedeployed at the merchant's premises and a walk-in customer can use hiscard to make payments. This mechanism has been found to be useful as itis simple to use both for the merchant and customer, and allows forprepayment.

[0032] Every time a service is used, the payment related to that serviceis deducted from the customer's pre-paid account. It is clear that moneyin a pre-paid account will reach a zero balance at some point in time.Hence, there is a need by the customer to recharge his/her prepaidaccount. There are several commercially available systems in themarketplace that offer pre-paid facilities and most of them offeraccount recharge. Currently available systems allow for accountrecharge: by issue of a recharge voucher (the voucher having a uniquenumber, known as PIN, with a certain predetermined value, e.g., $20),which can be used by the customer. The customer dials into anInteractive Voice Response (“IVR”) System of the service provider and byway of a guided menu, the customer will be able to recharge his/herpre-paid account by punching in the unique PIN number.

[0033] Such a recharge system has limitations in that service providersneed to print recharge vouchers and then distribute the vouchers. Thisis a big logistics and cost problem. Also, there is a potential fraudrisk with several types of frauds feasible, for example, leakage of PINsto unauthorized users, unauthorized users randomly trying severalnumbers and matching the right number, and unauthorized parties printingfake recharge vouchers, like counterfeit currency. Moreover, serviceproviders can offer only predetermined amounts of money per voucher.Although they may offer several types of vouchers, each voucher willhave a predefined amount. This means that a customer cannot choose theexact amount of recharge he/she would like to do. Further, there is theinability of service providers to offer a credit facility to pre-paidcustomers. Increasing use of pre-paid accounts in the highly developedand credit-driven countries indicate that customers are increasinglyusing pre-paid accounts for convenience and easy use, rather than anycredit related issues. Such customers do not like to pay upfrontpayments for services which they have not yet used. With a credit limit(with assurance of guaranteed payment by third parties like banks,etc.), such a method would increase the number of customers selectingpre-paid accounts.

[0034] In situations where a pre-paid amount is programmed onto a cardthat could be used by a customer (e.g., a SIM card, smart card, magneticcard or any other type of card), the customer can take his card to thenearest outlet where there are special programming machines availablefor recharging the card. These types of prepayments have been used inthe past. However, as mobile commerce becomes increasingly popular, itis anticipated that customers would like to use such solutions for micropayments. Programming the pre-paid amount onto the cards offersconvenience to the customer as he/she need not punch in a long (often 12digits or more) code for a very low value transaction. However, such anaccount recharge arrangement has limitations in that customers can go toonly a limited set of recharge outlets every time they need to recharge.Such cards cannot be recharged at other places. Service providers alsodo not like to update or recharge very large amounts to these cards dueto issues related to fraud (e.g., unauthorized parties with access toequipment that can write large money amounts on the cards), and theinability of service providers to offer a credit facility to pre-paidcustomers.

[0035] In regular commerce transactions (e.g., using credit cards/debitcards at a physical store or shop), transaction validation is typicallyconducted by swiping the card and physical signature verification.Sometimes, as a protection from fraud, credit card/debit card agenciesask the merchant establishment/customer to call the bank. The bank thenwill use additional security measures like asking a mother's maidenname, date of birth, etc., to assure that the customer is not anunauthorized person. In the Internet and mobile Internet situationstoday, these additional security measures do not exist and fraud existsas noted above with various of the available no change pre-paid accountsystems. Due to limited security, fraud on internet/mobile Internetrelated transactions is estimated to be very high.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0036] One exemplary embodiment of the invention disclosed in the parentU.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/395,868, relates to pre-paid callsand other communication services using a simple telephone switch. Thesimple telephone switch had a computer telephone interface (“CTI”) cardinserted that routed advanced functions to a second, secure channel. Thesecond, secure channel was connected via the telephone network, theInternet, or any other Internet protocol network to the communicationplatform. The communication platform was able to then send authorizationfor the call, connection instructions, and other commands to the simpletelephone switch such that the customer had access to advancedfunctions.

[0037] The use of the second, secure channel for authorizing payment andhandling call control enables several exemplary embodiments as detailedherein, with modifications to the communication system, to createnumerous improvements to pre-paid roaming services. For example, inaddition to the above described pre-paid roaming, the invention hereinprovides an improved convergent communications device for mobilecommerce, electronic commerce, account recharge, multiparty settlementtransactions, integrated customer care or any other commercialtransaction.

[0038] Thus, a first exemplary embodiment of the invention is aconvergent communications system that resides in a centralized location,accessible from any location via the internet, a publicly switchedtelephone network, a SS7 signaling line, a telephone number, or anyother means now known or later devised. A pre-paid roaming call can thenbe handled at a local phone switch by signaling from the local phoneswitch to the centralized convergent communications platform that thecustomer is attempting to access his/her account.

[0039] The convergent communications platform can then authorize thetelephone call after completing several steps. The first step is tocheck that the customer is actually an authorized customer. The secondstep is to check that the customer has authorized the use of thisparticular service. The third step is to check the customer's accountbalance in the centralized convergent communications system. If therequest comes from a customer that has authorized the service and hassufficient account balance, the centralized convergent communicationsplatform can issue an authorization number to the local telephoneswitch.

[0040] When the customer completes the telephone call, the local phoneswitch can then send a notification of completion of service, along withan elapsed time of the call to the centralized convergent communicationsplatform. If the customer runs out of money in his account during thephone call, the centralized convergent communications platform can senda message via the second line to the switch to have the telephone callterminated. In either case, the pre-paid roaming customer can accesshis/her account and utilize the pre-paid services.

[0041] In the telecom world, different networking technologies exist indifferent geographies. It is the desire of the customer to travel fromone place to another, e.g., from Europe to USA, and still be connectedon the phone in the roaming territory with the same telephone number.Today, roaming is possible between two networks of the same type (e.g.,roaming from one GSM network to another GSM network; or one AMPS networkto another AMPS network, etc,). However, due to the differences intechnologies, it is not possible for customers to roam between onenetwork type to another network type (e.g., a customer with a GSM phonecan not roam in a CDMA network; a customer with a AMPS phone can notroam in a GSM network). Non-roaming capability is because eachtechnology operates at a different frequency. Therefore, mobile handsetsare not compatible, call flow management in each of the telephonecompany network technologies is different, and subscriber identificationprocesses in each network type is different. For example, in a GSMnetwork a subscriber or customer is identified on the basis of IMSI, SIMSerial Number and MSISDN; in a CDMA network a subscriber or customer isidentified based on MIN and ESN; and in an AMPS network a subscriber isidentified based on ESN.

[0042] This problem of roaming across heterogeneous networks may besolved with either of the following two solutions: Customers canpurchase a multi-band mobile handset which allows for the paging signalfrom the handset to be recognizable by multiple networks (e.g., atri-band handset allows the subscriber to use the same phone in Europeas well as the USA), or roaming customers can go to the roaming serviceprovider and temporarily rent a hand set of the different roamingnetwork standard. Telephone companies can also ensure that the customercan be reached on the same telephone number by way of call forwarding.

[0043] However, these roaming solutions are feasible only for post-paidsubscribers. They do not work for pre-paid subscribers for enablingpre-paid roaming because all the participating networks would need towork in tandem to authenticate, rate, and charge the customer homenetwork pre-paid account. There are no commercial technologies availabletoday in the marketplace, which can support pre-paid roaming acrossheterogeneous networks.

[0044] With the growth in the pre-paid subscriber base, telephonecompanies worldwide would like to offer pre-paid roaming acrossheterogeneous networks. Therefore, there is a need for a solution thatcan: cater to the different requirements of heterogeneous network types,obtain the relevant call control information and subscriber informationfrom the calling or roaming network, create and send the relevant callcontrol information and subscriber information to the home network ofthe subscriber, obtain not only the subscriber authentication in termsof validity of subscriber, but also authenticate the subscriber based onthe profile of services that are allowed for the subscriber, pass theapproval/rejection back to the calling or roaming network in the formatthat is required by the calling or roaming network, rate the call usagein real time, if the call is set up by the calling network or thenetwork where the subscriber is currently present, provide usageinformation, and conduct multi-party settlements of the servicesprovided across heterogeneous networks.

[0045] A customer care solution for roaming subscribers, particularlypre-paid roamers, also should have at least the following capabilities:the ability to identify the roaming subscriber when the subscriber callsinto the customer care center (“CCC”); the ability to communicate to thehome network and obtain information related to the customer account(balance, previous transaction history, etc.) and customer serviceprofile (what services are allowed for the particular customer); theability to process the customer's requests for informationdelivery/query response; the ability to take action on either customeraccount or service profile (e.g., credit/reverse amounts for droppedcalls; activate new services for the customer, etc.); the ability by thesubscriber to connect to the customer care system at the visitingnetwork so that customer care can be provided (e.g., integration withthe local interactive voice systems, customer care applications, etc.);and the ability to update the home database of the customer so as tomaintain the customer account information integrity and allow customersto recharge his/her pre-paid account while roaming.

[0046] Pre-paid roaming also poses several challenges with respect tomultiparty settlements for converged communication services. Inpost-paid roaming, it is the home network that collects the money fromthe customer. Therefore, all visitor networks send the roaming customerusage data (either directly or via a data clearing/settlement house) tothe home network for settlements. In pre-paid roaming, it is possiblethat a customer A purchases the initial subscription from network X, butuses the pre-paid amount in network Y and recharges his account innetwork Z. In this scenario, there is no business obligation for networkZ to pay network Y even though network Z is holding the recharge amountpaid by the customer A. Moreover, network X is guaranteeing the customerpayments without actually holding the money paid by the customer A.Also, for providing the payment collection or recharge service, networkZ may like to charge a service fee to network X.

[0047] Currently available roaming settlement solutions only take careof settlements for telephony services that are post-paid services. Theydo not address the needs of the pre-paid telephony services (single orconverged services), nor do they address the settlement needs ofcommerce transactions conducted by a pre-paid roamer subscriber in thevisiting network. Hence, there is a need for a solution for a method andsystem that: allows for multiparty settlements of converged services andcommunication transactions; and allows for configuring the settlementrules for each service and commerce transaction. These rules shouldallow for settlements between: merchants (provider of goods/services,e.g., either manufacturer, reseller or distributor or a combination ofseveral such entities), portals (mobile portal or any other type ofportal including electronic-commerce portals, etc.), Internet serviceproviders (independent agencies or mobile operators or portals), mobilephone companies (home network, visiting network, or both), virtualservice providers (content service providers or infrastructure serviceproviders or branding agencies or any combination), bank/credit cardagencies or any other financial institutions (one or more involved in acommerce transaction), third party payment agencies (e.g., merchantaggregators, payment processing agencies or e-wallets or any suchpayment processing agencies), goods/service delivery agencies (e.g.,courier companies, bandwidth suppliers), and insurance agencies.

[0048] Settlement rules also should allow configuration for varioussituations such as: (1) settlement in real time, (2) settlement with atime delay (e.g., after 2 days or 30 days, etc), (3) settlement based onconfirmation of certain condition (e.g., a courier is paid only when thegoods are delivered, whereas an insurance agency is paid before shipmentof goods), (4) settlement based on a business relationship between theparties (e.g., a courier agency offers discounts based on volumes—thatmeans the settlement process would take into account several deliveriesrather than just one delivery), and (5) settlement based on performance(e.g., a portal is paid a small value each time an advertisement isdelivered to the roaming subscriber and it gets paid a larger value ifthe roaming subscriber actually purchases the goods/services).Settlements should also take into account a roaming contract betweenparticipating networks (e.g., roaming surcharge). Settlements shouldalso take into account any regulatory requirements (e.g., appropriationof taxes and settlement with government agencies).

[0049] For pre-paid services and commerce transactions to be successful,especially in mobile commerce, there is a need for a method and systemthat allows for recharge from any of the following: recharge voucher,direct linkage to the guarantor account (credit/debit/any other type ofaccount), recharge by the customer from the mobile phone, or a fixedphone, directly debiting the guarantor account (credit/debit/any othertype of account), recharge by the customer from a bank's ATM, orrecharge by cash payment at a cash counter. Each pre-paid customer alsoshould be able to configure his own criteria for recharge in thefollowing manner: recharge only from phone (mobile or fixed), rechargefrom the net (internet, mobile internet or any other types of public orprivate networks), recharge only when the customer specifically asks forrecharge (either thru IVR, net, or walk in, or any other manner),recharge when the balance is going below a certain value automaticallyfrom another particular account (bank debit or credit or any other typeof account), do not recharge the account, but use another account as apayment guarantee for the pre-paid account, recharge severalsub-accounts with pre-configured limits from the main account, rechargeon a periodic basis (e.g., daily, monthly, weekly, etc.), and a rechargeamount to be determined based on usage criteria as defined by the user(e.g., look at the past seven days usage and recharge the averageamount; or the recharge amount should be equal to the value of the mostexpensive transaction conducted in the past ‘x’ number of days, etc.).

[0050] In a pre-paid convergent communications environment, transactionvalidation/authentication (whether a communications service or acommerce transaction, or a combination of both) should have severalsteps or checks to validate the user, as well as the availability of acredit limit or pre-paid monies associated with the account. Anysolution for the communications access, internet or mobile/internetaccess, commerce transaction (whether done in a physical shop or on thenet/mobile-net) should allow for: validation of a customer based on PIN,password, telephony related security features, or a combination of someor all of these, validation of whether the requested service/transactionis authorized or not for that particular customer pre-paid account(service profile validation), validation of availability of sufficientbalance in the customer pre-paid account for the services/transaction(balance could be in the pre-paid account balance, or a credit accountbalance or any other type of real or virtual account associated with thecustomer pre-paid account).

[0051] Based on rules configured by the service provider (bank, telco ormerchant or any other type of service provider), additional validationscan be conducted. For example, the service provider may: ask foradditional information from the user (e.g., mother's maiden name, dateof birth or value of the previous transaction done, or value of theprevious bill, previous recharge or matching of a personal question andanswer pre-defined by the customer), ask for special passwords for highvalue transactions (e.g., more than $20) or high volume of transactions(e.g., more than fifteen transactions in a day, or more than fiftytransactions in a month, etc.) Based on rules configured by the end useror customer, the service provider may conduct additional validations.

[0052] For example, the customer/user may request: additional passwordsfor certain types of transactions (e.g., buying of airline tickets),additional information to be requested by the system (e.g., date ofbirth, friend's name, special passwords) in case of a transaction valuehigher than a set of previous transactions (e.g., asking a specialpassword if the current transaction value is 50% more than a total ofthe past five days transactions together). Based -on rules configured bythe customer/user, the system should be able to block certain types oftransactions (e.g., all e-/mobile commerce transactions allowed withexception of pornography or money transfers between countries wherecurrency restrictions exists).

[0053] Based on the rules configured as above, it should be possible forthe customer care agent to talk to the customer over the phone (i.e.,the system should allow for voice communication for transactionauthorization while the transaction being authorized is under progress).Depending on the rules configured by the service provider, it should bepossible for not charging the customer for such voicecommunication/additional security information usage (e.g., toll freeaccess).

[0054] Thus, one aspect of the invention is to provide a method forproviding mobile commerce, electronic commerce, customer care andcommunication services via a plurality of networks, the method includingreceiving in a roaming network from a user device, an identificationnumber and a request for a service, forwarding from the roaming network,to a home network, the identification number, the request for theservice, and adding a service provider identification number thatrelates to a service provider and a cost or rate of the service, if theservice is to be charged, verifying, by a convergent communicationplatform located on the home network, that the identification numberrelates to a valid user account, that the user device is authorized toreceive the service and that the valid user account has sufficient valueto pay for the service, providing an authorization to the serviceprovider, if the identification number relates to the valid useraccount, the user device is authorized to receive the service and thevalid user account has sufficient value, if the service is to becharged, and charging the valid user account on a real time basis, ifnecessary, for providing the service, if the service is to be charged.

[0055] Another aspect of the invention is to provide an apparatus thatprovides mobile commerce services via a plurality of networks, theapparatus having a receiver that receives a request for a service, therequest including an identification number from a user device located ona roaming network, and the service requested, a service provideridentification number related to the service provider and a cost of therequested service from the roaming network, a verifier that verifiesthat the identification number relates to a valid user account, that theuser device is authorized to receive the service and that the valid useraccount has sufficient value to pay for the service, a sender thatprovides an authorization to the service provider, if the identificationnumber relates to the valid user account, the user device is authorizedto receive the service and the valid user account has sufficient valueand a charger that charges the valid user account for providing theservice.

[0056] Yet another aspect of the invention is to provide a method forproviding pre-paid roaming communication services via a plurality ofnetworks, the method including receiving in a roaming network, from auser device, an identification number and a destination device number,forwarding from the roaming network, to a home network, theidentification number, the destination device number, and adding aservice provider identification number and a cost of a roamingcommunication service, verifying, by a convergent communication platformlocated on the home network, that the identification number relates to avalid user account, that the user device is authorized to receive theservice and that the user account has sufficient value to pay for aninitial use of the service, providing an authorization to the roamingnetwork, if the identification number relates to a valid userinformation, the user device is authorized to receive the service andthe account has sufficient value to pay for an initial use of theservice, charging the valid user account for providing the service andsending a signal the user account balance reaches a predetermined level.

[0057] Another aspect of the invention is to provide an apparatus thatprovides pre-paid roaming communication services via a plurality ofnetworks, the apparatus including a receiver that receives a request fora communication service, the request including an identification numberand a destination device number from a user device located on a roamingnetwork and a service provider identification number related to theservice provider and a cost of the service from the roaming network, averifier that verifies that the identification number relates to a validuser account, that the user device is authorized to receive thecommunication service on the roaming network and that the valid useraccount has sufficient value to pay for the service, a sender thatprovides an authorization to the service provider, if the identificationnumber relates to the valid user account, the user device is authorizedto receive the service and the valid user account has sufficient valueand that sends a signal if the valid user account reaches apredetermined level and a charger that charges the valid user accountfor providing the service.

[0058] A further aspect of the invention is to provide a method ofproviding customer care services via a plurality of networks, the methodincluding receiving in a roaming network, from a user device, anidentification number and a request for a customer care service,forwarding from the roaming network, to a home network, theidentification number, the request for the customer care service, andadding a service provider identification number, verifying, by aconvergent communication platform located on the home network, that theidentification number relates to a valid user account and connecting theuser device to the customer care service, if the identification numberrelates to the valid user account.

[0059] Another aspect of the invention is to provide an apparatus thatprovides customer care services via a plurality of networks, theapparatus including a receiver that receives a request for a customercare service, the request including an identification number from a userdevice located on a roaming network and a service provideridentification number related to a service provider from the roamingnetwork, a verifier that verifies that the identification number relatesto a valid user account, that the user device is authorized to receivethe customer care service and a connector that connects the user deviceto a customer care provider that can provide the customer care service,if the identification number relates to a valid user account.

[0060] Yet another aspect of the invention is to provide a method ofrecharging a pre-paid account for services to be provided via aconvergent communications platform, the method including receiving arequest for authorization to use a customer account located on theconvergent communications platform, determining that the customeraccount does not have a sufficient balance for the service to beprovided, determining that the customer account has authorized arecharge mechanism, recharging the customer account using the rechargemechanism and authorizing the use of the customer account for servicevia the convergent communications platform.

[0061] A further aspect of the invention is to provide an apparatus thatrecharges a pre-paid account for services to be provided via aconvergent communications platform, the apparatus including a receiverthat receives a request for authorization to use a customer accountlocated on the convergent communications platform, a determiner thatdetermines that the customer account does not have a sufficient balancefor the service to be provided and that the customer account hasauthorized a recharge mechanism, a recharger that recharges the customeraccount using the recharge mechanism and a sender that sends anauthorization for the use of the customer account for the service viathe convergent communications platform.

[0062] Another aspect of the invention is to provide a method forsettling a pre-paid transaction to a plurality of providers in aconvergent communications environment, the method including charging acharge to a user account for a transaction provided via a plurality ofnetworks on a real time basis, determining a plurality of portions ofthe charge that should be distributed to a plurality of providersinvolved in providing the pre-paid transaction via the plurality ofnetworks and settling with the providers via the plurality of networksaccording to the determined plurality of portions.

[0063] Yet a further aspect of the invention is to provide an apparatusthat settles a pre-paid transaction to a plurality of providers in aconvergent communications environment, the apparatus including a chargerthat charges a user account for a transaction provided via a pluralityof networks on a real time basis, a determiner that determines aplurality of portions of the charge that should be distributed to aplurality of providers involved in providing the pre-paid transactionvia the plurality of networks and a sender that settles with theproviders via the plurality of networks according to the determinedplurality of portions.

[0064] Another aspect of the invention is to provide a method ofproviding mobile commerce, electronic commerce, customer care andcommunication services via a plurality of networks, the method includingreceiving in a roaming network from a user device, an identificationnumber and a request for a service, forwarding from the roaming network,to a home network, the identification number, the request for theservice, and adding a service provider identification number thatrelates to a service provider and a cost or rate of the service, if theservice is to be charged, verifying, by a convergent communicationplatform located on the home network, that the identification numberrelates to a valid user account, that the user device is authorized toreceive the service and that the valid user account has sufficient valueto pay for the service, providing an authorization to the serviceprovider, if the identification number relates to the valid useraccount, the user device is authorized to receive the service and thevalid user account has sufficient value, if the service is to be chargedand charging the valid user account on a real time basis, if necessary,for providing the service, if the service is to be charged.

[0065] In addition, an aspect of the invention is to provide anapparatus that provides mobile commerce, electronic commerce, customercare and communication services via a plurality of networks, theapparatus including a receiver that receives an identification numberfrom a user device, and a request for a service, a service provideridentification number that relates to a service provider and a cost orrate of the service, if the service is to be charged from a roamingnetwork, a determiner that determines, by a convergent communicationplatform located on the home network, whether the identification numberrelates to a valid user account, if the user device is authorized toreceive the service and if the valid user account has sufficient valueto pay for the service, a sender that provides an authorization to theservice provider, if the identification number relates to the valid useraccount, the user device is authorized to receive the service and thevalid user account has sufficient value, if the service is to be chargedand a charger that charges the valid user account on a real time basis,if necessary, for providing the service, if the service is to becharged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0066] These and other aspects and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent and more readily appreciated from thefollowing description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings of which:

[0067]FIG. 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a system utilizing aconvergent communications platform;

[0068]FIG. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of utilizing a convergentcommunications platform for mobile commerce;

[0069]FIG. 3 is an exemplary embodiment of utilizing a convergentcommunications platform for pre-paid roaming;

[0070]FIG. 4 is an exemplary embodiment of utilizing a convergentcommunications platform for customer care;

[0071]FIG. 5 is an exemplary embodiment of an international systemutilizing a convergent communications platform;

[0072]FIG. 6 is an exemplary embodiment of a system utilizing aconvergent communications platform;

[0073]FIG. 7 is an example of the architecture for enabling enhanceddata services with a convergent communications platform;

[0074]FIG. 8 is an exemplary embodiment of a balance of charges for aconvergent communications platform;

[0075]FIG. 9 is an exemplary method of recharging a pre-paidcommunications account;

[0076]FIG. 10 is an example of the transfer of information betweenseveral parties for a convergent communications platform;

[0077]FIG. 11 is a block diagram of conducting mobile commerce whileroaming;

[0078]FIG. 12 is an example of a user requesting a roaming service witha convergent communications platform;

[0079]FIG. 13 is an exemplary user and transaction record used for aconvergent communications platform;

[0080]FIG. 14 is an exemplary user account in a convergentcommunications platform;

[0081]FIG. 15 is an exemplary embodiment of an interactive voiceresponse system as used in a convergent communications platform;

[0082]FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing the use of a pre-paid account in aconvergent communications platform for multiparty settlement;

[0083]FIG. 17 is an exemplary method of a semi automated method forrecharging a pre-paid account and setting up rules for multi-partysettlement in a convergent communications platform;

[0084]FIG. 18 is an exemplary method of generating a reconciliationreport in a convergent communications platform;

[0085]FIG. 19 is an example of the data transfer in a convergentcommunications platform;

[0086]FIG. 20 is an exemplary method of multi-party real time settlementin a convergent communications platform;

[0087]FIG. 21 is a block diagram of an exemplary account managementdevice for a convergent communications platform;

[0088]FIG. 22 is a block diagram of an exemplary switch manager devicefor a convergent communications platform;

[0089]FIG. 23 is an example of business to business transactions using aconvergent communications platform;

[0090]FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a convergent communications systemconducting business to business commerce;

[0091]FIG. 25 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for accountrecharge for a convergent communications platform;

[0092]FIG. 26 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for recharging apre-paid account using an interactive voice response system in aconvergent communications platform;

[0093]FIG. 27 is a block diagram of an exemplary security system used bya convergent communications platform;

[0094]FIG. 28 is an example of multiparty settlement using a convergentcommunications platform as a settlement house;

[0095]FIG. 29 is an exemplary screenshot of vendor information forsettlement in a convergent communications platform;

[0096]FIG. 30 is an exemplary screenshot of adding vendor information toa convergent communications platform; and

[0097]FIG. 31 is an exemplary screenshot of adding details aboutmerchants to a convergent communications platform.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0098] As described herein, the exemplary embodiments of the inventionare applicable to a system, method and platform for use withheterogeneous networks and for converged (or convergent) communications,converged commerce and converged services. While various industry termsand acronyms are used, several terms have the following additionalmeanings as described.

[0099] Examples of heterogeneous networks are networks consisting ofdissimilar or diverse technology components or constituents combined.For example, a heterogeneous network can have: differenttelecommunication standards, like GSM and CDMA; different versions ofthe same telecom standard, like GSM 900 and 1900; different switchingenvironments, like Nokia and Ericsson; intelligent network (IN) ornon-IN; different signaling, like ISDN and SS7; different operatingsystems, like UNIX and NT; different flavors of the same operatingsystem, like Solaris (Sun) and AIX (IBM); different versions of the sameoperating system, like 2.0 and 2.1; different server hardware, like IBMand Compaq; same operators, but different network types, like KDDI CMDAand PDC in Japan; same operator, but different network, like Vodafone indifferent countries.

[0100] Examples of convergence are to combine a variety of technologiesand media together to provide a richer level of service. For example,converged communications can combine: different media, like voice, data,messaging; mobile, fixed or satellite voice, data, messaging offered bydifferent service providers; mobile, fixed or satellite voice, data,messaging media offered by different service providers; mobile, fixed orsatellite voice, data, messaging media offered by same service provider;and mobile, fixed or satellite voice, data, messaging offered bydifferent service providers. Converged commerce includes combiningtelephone, internet, e-commerce or m-commerce. Converged serviceincludes combining communications and commerce services. Convergedbilling can include such features as offering a single, integrated billfor all communications services, and charges for content or goods thatare delivered. Converged commerce can also refer to integrating allcharges for a transaction into one transaction and cost that includessuch items as surcharges, taxes, telecommunications fees, etc. Convergedservice can also refer to offering a single help operator that canaccess, view and modify a customer's account, even if the account doesnot reside on a local network.

[0101] A convergent interface can consist of a number of required andoptional parameters, which can be configured to integrate with thirdparty system, by analyzing the input/output parameters that the thirdparty component(s) require, mapping the third party components to theexemplary convergent communications platform component parameters andconfiguring the components to resolve any conflicts. If a third partysystem cannot provide some optional parameters, the exemplary convergentcommunications platform can create dummy parameters to ensure a correctmapping.

[0102] Examples of a platform include a system that provides a base foradditional endeavors. For example, a communications platform such as atelephone system allows for data to flow across it for communication inmany ways. Similarly, a convergent communications platform can allow avariety of technologies to merge, allowing for enhanced mobile commerce,electronic commerce and customer care.

[0103] Examples of enhanced services include such features asreformatting. An enhanced service can, for example, reformat a datarequest from one system so that it is acceptable to a second system;reformat information with reference to stored information such that thereformatted information includes information not available to theoriginating device.

[0104]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary system utilizing aconvergent communications platform. As seen in FIG. 1, the customer viahis/her input 10 connects through device IP 21, wireless device 23 ortelephone system access device 25, and the internet 22, wireless network24 or publicly switched telephone network 26 to a vendor (i.e., aservice provider) service device 50. The vendor service device 50 thenconnects to convergent communications platform 100 via a request forpayment 52. The convergent communications platform 100 then returns apayment authorization 102 to the vendor service device 50. The vendorservice device 50 then can deliver or confirm delivery of theservices/goods 11 back to the customer input 10.

[0105] In this exemplary system, a customer wishing to engage in mobilecommerce can quickly and efficiently receive the services/goods hedesires. For example, if a customer wishes to buy an MP3 file from anelectronic music vendor, the transaction can work as follows.

[0106] The customer, operating the customer input 10, attempts toconnect to the music vendor via the vendor's service device 50. Thecustomer input 10 can be connected to any one of the IP device 21 thewireless device 23 or the telephone system access device 25. The IPdevice 21 can be a network card, a WAP connection device, an SMSmessaging device, or any other now known or later devised device forconnecting to an internet protocol network.

[0107] Wireless device 23 can be a mobile phone, a cellular phone, orany other device that uses radio waves or electromagnetic energy tocommunicate with the wireless network 24. The telephone system accessdevice 25 can be a modem, a router, a cable modem, or any other devicethat can connect to the publicly switched telephone network 26.

[0108] The internet 22 can be any combination of switches, routers,hubs, microwave devices or other communications equipment that cantransfer internet protocol messages from one point to another. Thewireless network 24 can be any system of radio towers and switches andother devices such that a wireless device 23 can connect to a vendorservice device 50.

[0109] The publicly switched telephone network 26 can be any combinationof circuit switch, packet switch, or other devices suitable forconnecting a telephone system access to the vendor service device 50.

[0110] If the customer input 10 was a wireless device 23 and connectsthrough the wireless network 24 to the vendor's service device 50, thevendor service device can be a morse or numeric recognition system suchthat the customer input 10 can adequately specify a request to purchasethe MP3 from the vendor service device 50.

[0111] The vendor service device 50 can be any combination of a webserver, a voice server, an SMS messaging server, or Wireless AccessProtocol (WAP) server capable of conducting mobile commerce and deliveror confirm delivery of services or goods to customer input 10. Thevendor service device 50 receives the customer request for an MP3 fileand generates a request for payment 52. The request for payment 52 issent to the convergent communications platform 100.

[0112] The convergent communications platform 100 then checks that theuser or customer is an authorized user, that the user's account has beenauthorized to conduct this type of mobile commerce, and that thecustomer account contains enough money or funds to enable the service.If the user's account has the correct authorization and funds, theconvergent communications platform 100 generates a payment authorization102 and sends it back to the vendor's service device 50.

[0113] The vendor's service device 50 then generates the services orgoods, in this case an MP3 file, and sends the MP3 file by any of theinternet 22, wireless network 24, publicly switched telephone network26, or any other shipping network to the customer network or customerinput 10.

[0114] In various exemplary embodiments, the above-mentioned steps canbe automated by the system to a greater or lesser extent. In a fullyautomated environment, the customer input 10 may be an MP3 playerconnected with a wireless device 23 to a wireless network 24, thatautomatically sends either authorization and routing data to the vendorservice device 50. Thus, all a user has to do is open the device andselect that they would like to purchase a new MP3 file. The device thenautomatically connects to t he MP3 vendor, and displays a list of songsfor the user to purchase. The user can then simply select the song hewishes to purchase, and then begin downloading the song as all otherindividual tasks happen in the background.

[0115] In another exemplary embodiment, additional security forauthorization of a request for services/goods and payment may beutilized through the use of a pin, a smart card, a magnetic read/writedevice, a barcode, a magnetic strip, a raised alpha numeric character,or any other antifraud method as now known or later devised, ordescribed in relation to FIG. 27.

[0116]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an exemplary system forutilizing a convergent service device in mobile(m)-commerce orelectronic (e)-commerce. As shown in FIG. 2, customer input 100 sends arequest for services 105 to a vendor service device 110. The vendorservice device 110 then sends a request for authorization 115 to theconvergent services device 200. The convergent services device 200 thensends the authorization granted 125 to the vendor service device 110,and a notification of payment 135 to the customer input device 100. Theconvergent services device 200 then sends a payment 150 to the bank orfinancial institution for the vendor 140 and payment 155 to the shipper160.

[0117] In this exemplary embodiment, the customer via his input device100 requests to buy tickets for a cinema. The customer can open his/hercustomer device 100 or activate it such that a request for services 105is sent to the vendor service device 110. The vendor service device 110can be any now known or later devised device for voice recognition ordigit interpretation such that the user can select the particularizedmovie tickets for the particularized movie house that he/she wishes tovisit. In addition, the vendor service device 110 can operate for anyknown business, not just a cinema. For example, concert tickets or otheritems could be purchased.

[0118] After the user enters the request for services 105 into thevendor service device 110, the vendor service device 110 can generate arequest for authorization 115. The request for authorization 115, caninclude such information as the customer ID, the cost for the servicesand the vendor identifier (ID).

[0119] Once the convergent services device 200 receives the request forauthorization 115, it can check the user's pre-paid account associatedwith the user's ID, check that the account is authorized for purchase ofmovie tickets, and check that the customer's account has sufficientbalance. If the account has sufficient balance, the account isauthorized for the transaction, and the account is a valid account, theconvergent services device can send an authorization granted 125 to thevendor service device 110 and a notification of payment 135 to thecustomer input device 100.

[0120] The customer can then pickup the movie tickets from the movietheatre by any method now known or later devised. For example, the usercan enter a dispensing machine identification number, and have thedispensing machine simply dispense the movie tickets. Other means as areknown in the art, such as Federal Express delivery, entering anauthorization code to a pre-existing machine, and identifying oneself toa vendor representative can be used as is well known in the art.

[0121] In various exemplary embodiments, the convergent services device200 may not send the payment to the vendor services device 110. Theconvergent services device 200 may send the payment to a bank orfinancial institution associated with the vendor 140. Alternately, theconvergent services device 200 may simply authorize a transfer from abank or financial institution associated with the customer or user tothe bank or financial institution for the vendor 140. In addition, theconvergent services device 200 may authorize a payment to shipper 160which can then perform delivery.

[0122]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an exemplary system enabling pre-paidroaming with a convergent communications platform. In FIG. 3, area 310has customer 1, customer 2, telephone switch A, service manager A andaccount manager A in it. Account manager A includes the customeraccounts for customer 1 customer 2 and customer 3. Area 320 has customer3, customer 4, telephone switch B, service manager B and account managerB in it. Account manager B includes the customer accounts for customer4, customer 5 and customer 6. Area 330 has customer 5, customer 6,telephone switch C, service manager C and account manager C in it. Area310, area 320 and area 330 are connected by a publicly switchedtelephone network 300 and a wide area network (WAN) 350.

[0123] The use of the wide area network 350 has a secure passage foraccount information to enable pre-paid roaming. Thus, if all customers1-6 are pre-paid customers with accounts in either area 310 or area 320,the exemplary embodiment enables them to use their pre-paid accountsregardless of the area they are in. Various examples will be describedbelow.

[0124] Pre-paid roaming can operate as illustrated in the followingsteps. Customer 1 in area 310 seeking to call customer 2 in area 310activates his/her device. When the device of customer 1 is activated,the telephone switch A picks up the signal and forwards the request forservice to service manager A. Service manager A then checks with accountmanager A that customer 1 is a valid customer and has an account balanceor funds remaining in his/her account. The service manager A also checksthat customer 2 is a valid customer with an account balance or fundsleft in his/her account to receive the phone call. The service manager Aafter clearing that all accounting information is correct, completes thecall.

[0125] However, if customer 1 in area 310 wishes to call customer 3 inarea 320, under existing systems, there would be a problem. Customer 1would activate his/her device, and enter in the identification number ofcustomer 3. The telephone switch A would then receive the request forservice, and forward it to service manager A. Service manager A wouldthen check that customer 1 and customer 3 are valid customers, andattempt to complete the communication. The service manager A would thenwork through telephone switch A and a publicly switched telephonenetwork 300 to attempt to reach customer 3. However, at telephone switchB, since customer 3 does not have an account with account manager B, thetelephone switch B would not have authorization to complete thetelephone call.

[0126] However, in various exemplary embodiments of the invention, thetelephone switch B would forward the request for service to servicemanager B, which would realize that customer 3 does not have an accountin account manager B, and would therefore forward the request throughthe wide area network 350 to service manager A. Service manager A wouldthen verify that customer 3 was a valid customer with funds remaining inhis/her account. Service manager A would then authorize the call throughthe wide area network 350 to service manager B, which would tell thetelephone switch B to complete the call. If customer 1 or customer 3were to run out of money or account balance during the course of thetelephone conversation, service manager A would forward a signal toeither telephone switch A or through the wide area network 350 toservice manager B to discontinue the telephone conversation.

[0127] In the existing systems for pre-paid telephone service, ifcustomer 1 wanted to contact customer 4, customer 1 would activatehis/her user device to contact customer 4. The request for service wouldbe received by telephone switch A, which would then send a signal toservice manager A authorizing the service if the customer 1 pre-paidaccount in account manager A was current. The service manager A wouldthen authorize the service as the receiving customer 4 was not part ofits account nor on its network. The telephone switch A would thenforward the request for service through the publicly switched telephonenetwork 300 to telephone switch B. Telephone switch B would then checkthat customer 4 was within its area, and check with service manager Bthat customer 4 had an account. Service manager B checking with accountmanager B would verify that customer 4 was a current account holder witha remaining balance. Service manager B then would authorize telephoneswitch B to complete the telephone call and then customer 4 then wouldbe contacted.

[0128] However, if customer 1 in area 310 wanted to reach customer 5 inarea 330, the known system would not work for reasons detailed above.However, under various exemplary embodiments of the current invention,customer 1 would activate their access device to attempt to callcustomer 5. Telephone switch A would receive the request for service andforward a clearance request to service manager A. Service manager Awould then check with account manager A that customer 1 was a validcustomer with balance remaining and that customer 5 was not a customeron its network. Telephone switch A would then forward the request forservice through the publicly switched telephone network to telephoneswitch C, which has customer 5 registered as being in its area.Telephone switch C would then go to service manager C which would verifythat customer 5 does not have an account in account manager C. Servicemanager C would then ask account manager B through wide area network 350to authorize the communication. Once the communication was authorized bythe service manager B after checking in account manager B that customer5 is a valid customer with a remaining balance, the telephone switch Cwould authorize and complete the phone call between customer.

[0129] Several cases can be summarized as follows.

[0130] Case 1: customer 1 and customer 2 both are in home network,customer 1 dials to customer 4.

[0131] 1. Customer 1 dials customer 4.

[0132] 2. Since customer 1 is a pre-paid subscriber, telephone switch Aroutes the signal to service manager A.

[0133] 3. Service Manager A routes the signal to Account Manager A.

[0134] 4. Account Manager A identifies that the personal identificationof customer A belongs to the home network, the DNIS (MSISDN of customer4) does not belong to network 310, and the call is being originated fromnetwork 310.

[0135] 5. Service manager A authenticates customer 1 and replies totelephone switch A.

[0136] 6. Telephone switch A sends the call to telephone switch B viathe public switched telephone network (PSTN).

[0137] 7. Telephone switch B receives the call via the PSTN network androutes a signal to service manager B as customer 4 is pre-paid.

[0138] 8. Service manager B receives the signal and authenticatescustomer 4 through account manager B.

[0139] 9. Service manger B sends a MAP query and locates a servingtelephone switch B for customer B.

[0140] 10. Service manager B sends a page signal to telephone switch B.

[0141] 11. Telephone switch B starts paging customer 4.

[0142] 12. As customer 4 answers the call service, service manager Bstarts rating for customer 4 and service manager A starts rating forcustomer 1.

[0143] Case 2: customer 4 is in his home network and customer 3 isroaming in customer 4's home network, and customer 3 dials to customer4.

[0144] 1. Customer 3 dials customer 4.

[0145] 2. Since customer 3 is a pre-paid subscriber, telephone switch Broutes a signal to service manager B.

[0146] 3. Service manager B routes it to service manager A.

[0147] 4. Service manager A identifies that customer 4 belongs tonetwork 310 and customer 2 does not belong to network 310.

[0148] 5. Service manager A authenticates customer 3 and routes a signalto telephone switch B.

[0149] 6. Telephone switch B routes signal to service manager B ascustomer 4 is a pre-paid subscriber.

[0150] 7. Service manger B authenticates customer 4 as belonging tonetwork 320 through account manager B and sends a MAP query to locatethe serving MSC of customer 4.

[0151] 8. Telephone switch B replies back, and is instructed to call.

[0152] 9. Telephone switch B starts paging for customer 4.

[0153] 10. As customer 4 answers the call, service manager B startsrating for customer 4 and service manager A starts rating for customer3.

[0154] Case 3: customer 5 and customer 3 both are roaming, and customer5 dials to customer 3.

[0155] 1. Customer 5 dials customer 3.

[0156] 2. After verifying IMSI (or any such unique identifier) ofcustomer 5, telephone switch C determines customer 5 as a pre-paidsubscriber and routes a signal to service manager C, which in turnroutes it to service manger B.

[0157] 3. Service manager B identifies customer 5 as a roamingsubscriber and authenticates it by querying to account manger B.

[0158] 4. Service manager B replies back to service manager C thatcustomer 5 is valid for further routing.

[0159] 5. Service manager C routes the authorization to telephone switchC.

[0160] 6. Telephone switch C routes a signal via the PSTN to telephoneswitch A as customer 3 is a pre-paid subscriber.

[0161] 7. Service manager A authenticates customer 3 and sends a MAPquery to locate serving MSC of customer 3.

[0162] 8. Service manager B replies back to service manager A, whichforwards the routing information to telephone switch C.

[0163] 9. Telephone switch C routes the call to serving MSC, i.e.telephone switch B.

[0164] 10. Telephone switch B starts paging for customer 3.

[0165] 11. As customer 3 answers the call, service manager A startsrating for customer 3 and service manager C starts rating for customer6.

[0166] 12. When either party disconnects the call, service manager Cupdates account manager B over WAN.

[0167]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an exemplary embodiment of a universalor network independent customer service system. In FIG. 4, customer 400accesses the publicly switched telephone network or SS7 network 410 viapath 414 to contact service manager (“SM”) 420. The service manager 420,can connect to account manager (“AM”) 442, account manager 444 oraccount manager 446 through wide area network (“WAN”) 430. Servicemanager 420 can then reroute customer 400 using path 412 to connectcustomer 400 to any of operator/vendor 1 at 462, operator/vendor 2 at464 or operator/vendor 3 at 466 who can then access the appropriateaccount manager 442, 444 or 446 to give the customer his/her customercare service. Account manager 442 can connect to customer information indata base 452 or to customer information in data base 454 via wide areanetwork 430 or customer information in data base 456 through wide areanetwork 430. Thus, a customer can have a single telephone number to callfor customer care service regardless of the customer's actual location.

[0168]FIG. 5 is a diagram showing that each operator runs multipleswitches in its home country (home geographic area). Each has joined aninternational roaming service based on a centralized roaming data centermodel. This data center can be managed either by one or more telephonecompanies or by a third party. As shown in FIG. 5, operator 1 532,operator 2 534 and operator 3 536 are in country A 530 and are connectedto both WAN or TCP/IP network 520 and PSTN & SS7 network 510. Further,operator 4 546, operator 5 544 and operator 6 542 are in country B 540and are connected to both WAN or TCP/IP network 520 and PSTN and SS7network 510. Both WAN or TCP/IP network 520 and PSTN and SS7 network 510are connected to international roaming data center 500. Internationalroaming center 500 can contain servers 502, servers 504 and servers 506.

[0169] Each of servers 502, 504 and 506 can operate as described aboveto authenticate customers and route requests for service. Thus, FIG. 5shows that service managers and account managers as described above canbe located at any location, not necessarily within the calling area ofthe home network. The network can be GSM, CDMA, TDMA, AMPS, DAMPS or anyother network standard, including 2.5 G and 3 G. It is possible but notnecessary to run over several SM/AM's with a switch that routes themessages to a specific convergent communications platform. The switchinto the exemplary convergent communications platform system is optionalin that if it is installed, the addresses can be local, to theinternational roaming data center. Otherwise, the addresses must beinternational addresses.

[0170] Customer care for roaming customers could be handled exactly asmentioned above. However, with large implementations of many operatorsacross many countries, it would be impractical that each participatingtelephone company need set up call control equipment (Switch Managerservers) at all of its switching sites. A customer account managementand business support system (Account Manager) would be used by allparticipating telephone companies to manage their respectivesubscribers, create/manage their rate plans, and to give the SwitchManager(s) the IMSI/MSISDN (unique subscriber identifier) information onwhich to identify and rate each customer call. Account Manager may ormay not be distributed depending on the business situation.

[0171]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a centralized account manger 672. Inone example, one Account Manager can cater to several telephonecompanies in a centralized fashion. In another example, it is alsofeasible to have multiple Account Managers deployed in a highlydistributed fashion, each Account Manager catering to a specifictelephone company, or any combination thereof. As shown in FIG. 6, auser 615 can connect via radio or cellular tower 690 to cellulartelephone switch 678. Cellular telephone switch 678 is connected to PSTN650 and switch manager 674. Switch manager 674 is connected via anetwork to interactive voice response (IVR) server 686, simple messageserver (SMS) 684, voice mail server (VMS) 682, network account services(NAS) unit 680, firewall 676, account manager (AM) 672 and catalyst hub640. The IVR server 686 is connected to help desk 688. The AM 672 isconnected to database 670. Catalyst hub 640 is connected to accessserver 628, IVR server 632, electronic mobile portal commerce servers630, proxy server 626 and security server 624. Home/office users 610 areconnected to the Internet 600, which is connected to the PSTN 650 andsite router 620. Site router 620 is connected through firewall 622 toproxy server 626.

[0172] Thus, the convergent communications system as shown in FIG. 6 canenable the use of an international roaming data center, and accommodatesvarious specialized servers for providing services. For example, NASunit 680 can be designated as a rating calculating server. Othermodifications and arrangements for accommodating various businesspractices can be incorporated without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

[0173] Thus, a switch manager can be centralized within theinternational roaming data center (IRDC). Each participating network canbe connected to the central switch manager via signaling link (SS7,etc). Given that this is possible, each participating network operatorwould require only one instance of a service manager running at the IRDCto manage that operator's roaming service. It is possible to deployseveral service manager instances on one single server or each instancemay be running on its own dedicated server, or a combination where oneservice manager server acts as a back-up/stand by for the other.

[0174] The SM assigned to each operator would combine the activity ofeach of the SMs described in the roaming section above. The individualMSCs in each operator's region would identify callers, verify that theirhome networks are participating roaming partners, assign them theirMSRNN, etc. When the MSC hands off the signal to the SM, however, thecontrol traffic would not just transit the switch room, but rathertransit the international SS7 network to the IRDC. SM identifies thecall origination point and it would be able to determine the caller'shome location. Then, the SM would take care of authorization, and ratingbased on the originating switch network code (and originating cell ID,etc.), and the appropriate rate tables for the MOC and MTC parts of thecall.

[0175] As described above, inter-operator settlement would be handled atthe IRDC. Rules based division of revenue would be managed andreal-time, daily, weekly or monthly settlement of net revenues carriedout. The exemplary convergent communications platform handles calls overheterogeneous networks as follows:

[0176] 1. SM & AM can be configured for multiple network types;network-specific information for GSM, CDMA, TDMA, AMPS, etc.; signalingparameter control information; subscriber authentication-specificinformation; and communication protocol information.

[0177] 2. Roaming agreements and rules are setup for the relationshipsbetween operators for services and commercial transactions: per unitcharge, surcharges, taxation, etc, settlement format, period, accountinformation, etc.

[0178] 3. Subscriber set up: service profile information, to includeavailable network types for roaming, and subscriber identificationinformation for each network type.

[0179] 4. Calls can be handled in the following manner:

[0180] a. SM receives the incoming call signal.

[0181] b. Identifies the network type.

[0182] c. Checks the information required for that network type (i.e.,the unique identifier).

[0183] d. Checks whether this is a home or visiting network call.

[0184] e. Generates a signal to the home network using the appropriateparameters required for that network type.

[0185] f. Authenticates the user/subscriber back to the visitingnetwork, confirming service validity from subscriber service profile

[0186] g. Rates the call from the visiting network type to the user'saccount (checks balance, confirms availability).

[0187] h. If balance runs out or call terminates: SM confirmstermination, sends post transaction info to home network database andconducts settlement

[0188] As the business can be increasingly competitive, mobile operatorsworldwide are seeking to offer several value added services, like data,fax, simple message server, and mobile commerce, to their customers ontheir home networks. Also, these value-added services are increasinglybeing offered to post-paid roamers. Mobile operators would like to offersuch services to their pre-paid roaming subscriber as well, but arelimited by their operator-specific equipment and systems.

[0189]FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a mobile network 710 having atelephony management system 720, SMS service management system 722, FAXservice management system 724, data service management system 726, andother “XYZ” management system 728.

[0190] Some of these services being charged to customers may betime-based and others event-based. In real life deployments, it may ormay not be possible to control the authorization/usage of all thevalue-added services over signaling link. Telephony services can becontrolled over signaling link; however, for services like fax, SMS,mobile commerce, it may not be feasible to control theauthorization/usage over the signaling link.

[0191] For telephone company or other communication operators to offersuch value added services to the pre-paid roaming subscribers, it isnecessary that some interfaces be built where usage records arecollected and processed at frequent intervals (e.g., every one minute orfive minutes). However, considering the possibility of high valuetransactions, commerce services need to be processed in real-time as thetransaction takes place.

[0192]FIG. 7 explains how an exemplary embodiment of a convergentcommunications platform system manages the use of such value-addedservices for pre-paid roamers. Mobile network 710 can access a telephonymanagement system 720, an SMS service management system 722 and a faxservice management system 724, a data service management system 726 orXYZ service management system 728. Telephony management 720 can accessthe telephone rating 740 which can then connect to the convergentcommunications platform prepaid account and balance 750. SMS servicemanagement system 722, fax service system 724, data service managementsystem 726, and XYZ service management system 728 can connect to gateway730 to thereby access the enhanced data services rating for SMS 742,enhanced data services rating for fax 744, enhanced data services ratingfor data 746 and the enhanced data services rating 748. The enhanceddata service rating for SMS 742, the enhanced data services rating forfax 744, the enhanced data services rating for data 746, and theenhanced data services rating 748 can connect to the convergentcommunications platform pre-paid account and balance 750.

[0193] Before a value-added service is authorized, the external system(i.e., system that is providing the value-added service) makes a requestthrough the gateway to the exemplary convergent communications platformsystem. Details of the exemplary convergent communications platformsystem are not shown in FIG. 7, but described and/or shown herein. Basedon the rating tables, the pre-paid account available account balance,and the permitted services profile analysis, the exemplary convergentcommunications platform either authorizes the transaction or rejects thetransaction to the external system via the gateway 730. For eachauthorized transaction, the external system provides the value-addedservice to the pre-paid roamer customer. At the end of the usage (or atthe end of a pre-defined quantum of time), the external system generatesan enhanced data rating (EDR), which is sent to the exemplary convergentcommunications platform system via the gateway. The exemplary convergentcommunications platform initiates an EDR rating process for each suchrecord, and process the EDR and updates the customer account balanceinformation in the exemplary convergent communications platformdatabase.

[0194] It is possible that a pre-paid roamer may use one or morevalue-added services while the telephony usage is going on. In thatscenario, the exemplary convergent communications platform system, aswill be explained further herein, would initiate a telephony ratingprocess for the telephony usage. The exemplary convergent communicationsplatform also simultaneously processes the EDRs using EDR rating tables,EDR rules, and process. To avoid any deadlock situations or significantbalance overruns, the exemplary convergent communications platformprovides for priority allocation of money in the pre-paid customeraccount for the telephony service (e.g., reserving an amount for acertain predefined period of usage). In this architecture, it is alsopossible that due to delayed posting of EDR records, the pre-paid roameruser account balance may go below zero. Such a situation is avoided byway of pre-allocating money for the value-added service when the serviceauthorization request arrives.

[0195] For example, the customer calls from a visiting network area. Theexemplary convergent communications platform handles the call rating asfollows:

[0196] 1. Subscriber calls in via: IVR, walk-in, internet/mobileinternet, and any other means

[0197] 2. The exemplary convergent communications platform validates thesubscriber either by telephone number, user-given PIN or otherinformation, or by validation that can be automatic or manual.

[0198] 3. The IVR locates the customer home account.

[0199] 4. The IVR sends a query to the customer home account to obtainaccount information and service profile.

[0200] 5. The IVR analyzes/processes the query: information service ishandled by the CCC, account-related service queries generate furtherqueries to the home network through the exemplary convergentcommunications platform and recharge service is handled as describedlater.

[0201] 6. The customer then connects to the Internet through a WAPservice provided by the visiting network, and makes a purchase through amerchant site.

[0202] 7. For payment authorization, the merchant site (or any otherservice provider asking for authorization) to the exemplary convergentcommunications platform at the home network via an IP network (public orprivate network).

[0203] 8. The convergent communications platform then verifies with thehome network authorization database that the customer is authorized forthe commerce transaction (service profile validation) and obtains thelocation of the customer.

[0204] 9. The convergent communications platform then makes a request tothe convergent communications platform components, which are handlingthe call at the visitor network (in a distributed architecture thesecomponents could be at the visitor location).

[0205] 10. The convergent communications platform makes a request via aWAN link, either dedicated or public. In a centralized architecture,these components could be available locally.

[0206] 11. The convergent communications platform makes an authorizationrequest via a network.

[0207] 12. Once the authorization goes through, the exemplary convergentcommunications platform component (either at the home network or at thevisiting network depending on which type) would commit the completetransaction to the home network database to ensure informationconsistency.

[0208] 13. Based on the settlement rules, the exemplary convergentcommunications platform conducts settlements.

[0209] The authorization request could be of two types: Type 1: Tell mewhat is the current balance of the customer; and block ‘X’ amount ofmoney towards a commerce transaction (‘X’ being the amount requested bythe merchant for authorization plus any service charges imposed by thehome/visiting networks based on the roaming agreement). In thisscenario, final authorization is handled by the home network itself.Type 2: Please handle the commerce transaction and deduct X amount ifauthorized (‘X’ is the amount requested by the merchant forauthorization plus any service charges imposed by the home/visitingnetworks based on the roaming agreement). In this scenario, it is thecommerce rating process at the visiting network, which handles thecomplete transaction and generates the settlement records for furtherprocessing.

[0210] In another example, customer A, who is local to network X, hasroamed into network Z. He needs to top up/recharge his pre-paid account.The exemplary convergent communications platform can allow this in thefollowing ways:

[0211] 1. He can purchase a voucher from operator Z in the market.

[0212] 2. He dials the network Z IVR number.

[0213] 3. The IVR system, reading his MSISDN number, determines from thenetwork code that he is not a local subscriber.

[0214] 4. Having the network ID, the IVR makes a query over the TCP/IPnetwork to the LAUT database of network X, where it determines the talktime of Customer A's home network for the value of the voucherpurchased.

[0215] 5. The LAUT database is then updated on the home network.

[0216] This process ensures that any money related to recharge is alwaysforwarded to the home network even if it is recharged in any of thevisiting networks. Following a successful roaming call, the revenuebilled by the exemplary convergent communications platform switchmanager must be divided between the partner networks according to theirroaming tariff agreement.

[0217] The roaming tariff agreement can be stored in any of severallocations. The agreement can be stored on the convergent communicationsplatform, a separate billing server, or any other place that supportsthe settlement of accounts. In addition, the rules for settlement can belocated on the convergent communications platform, a separate billingserver, or any other place as determined by the parties to theagreement. In addition, the agreements can be between the operator ofthe convergent communications platform, companies doing business withthe operator, the customer, and governments.

[0218] At the completion of an arbitrary time period, generally once perday, all Call Description Records (CDRs) for roaming calls aretransferred to a settlements process. Alternatively, it is also possibleto create usage records in industry standard formats like TAP/Cyber forforwarding the information for settlement purpose. This can be part ofeach operator's back office, or handled via a clearinghouse running onan application service provider (ASP) model. The exemplary convergentcommunications platform can compare the revenues of each operator withrespect to its partners and organize final net transfers.

[0219] These transactions can be stored on the convergent communicationsplatform or off, though the preferred embodiment is for use of amultidimensional database provided on the convergent communicationsplatform. If the preferred embodiment is used, the multidimensionaldatabase can store all aspects of the transaction as a dimension, withvarious dimensions settling at various times according to agreementsbetween the partner networks or vendors. Also, where access isavailable, the customer may choose his long distance carrier. In such ascenario, the exemplary convergent communications platform would settlethe PSTN mobile terminated call in the visiting network with the longdistance carrier instead of the home plan long distance mobile network.Also, it is possible that the home plan long distance mobile network andvisiting plan long distance mobile network can also be a home planmobile network and visiting plan mobile network (i.e., to cover theglobal planned roaming system or 3 G networks). It is also possible thatthe home network and visitor network may not be based on GSM technology,but instead may be based on another mobile technology.

[0220] The exemplary convergent communications platform system can beconnected with the telephone company network to act as a pre-paidroaming service management system. In addition, the exemplary convergentcommunications platform can also be interconnected with a merchantsystem for managing merchant transactions. Settlements rules for eachmerchant and network partners are configured on the exemplary convergentcommunications platform settlement system. The exemplary convergentcommunications platform controls the payment transaction related to theservices or commerce transaction provided. The exemplary convergentcommunications platform, based on the settlement rules, would settlepayments for all the parties involved in the services and/ortransactions.

[0221] For items like volume discounts, bundled services, the exemplaryconvergent communications platform can post the appropriate informationto the data tables. Periodically (e.g., every minute, day, etc.) theexemplary convergent communications platform would analyze suchinformation and conduct settlements for such services.

[0222] The exemplary convergent communications platform can be deployedat a central site and connected to the telephone company network,merchant network and guarantor's customer account system. The exemplaryconvergent communications platform allows dynamic interaction between arating engine or table for voice, data and/or events and a customer'sprepaid account. At the choice of the user (either selected every time,or the system itself selecting automatically based on user definedcriteria), money can be transferred from a guarantor's customer account(any type of account) to the exemplary convergent communicationsplatform customer pre-paid account.

[0223] The exemplary convergent communications platform customerpre-paid account is used for the commerce and communications transactionpayment processing. In case the customer's balance runs out in theexemplary convergent communications platform account, the exemplaryconvergent communications platform account can be recharged as desiredby the customer, such as through a guarantor's customer account in abank mutual fund, or the like. The exemplary convergent communicationsplatform also allows for the simultaneous processing of commerce,communications and data transactions on the plafform's single customerpre-paid account. For every transaction, the exemplary convergentcommunications platform can also settle payments between all the partiesinvolved in providing the service and/or transaction to the customer.

[0224] For example, if John Smith has a bank account (BA001) and aconvergent communications platform account (UP987), John Smith canassociate his bank account BA001 with his pre-paid platform accountUP987. BA001, of course, can be a savings, checking, debit, credit orany other type of account. Moreover, the bank can be some other type ofentity that guarantees funds to a customer. Based on the bank-definedcriteria, the bank agrees to stand as guarantor for a certain amount forthe convergent communications platform account limit on behalf of JohnSmith. For example, BA001 has $1500 in the customer account and the bankmay allow the convergent communications platform customer account limitto be $100. The actual amount in the exemplary convergent communicationsplatform account could vary depending on several factors like JohnSmith's banking history, amount John Smith would like to have in theexemplary convergent communications platform account, any terms andconditions imposed by the telephone company, merchant community, localregulatory agencies, etc. John Smith can use the exemplary convergentcommunications platform pre-paid account to pay for any mobile commerce,or communication services using the exemplary convergent communicationsplatform account, with a recharge using the associated customer bank orguarantor account.

[0225] For example, in case a user runs out of money in his convergentcommunications platform account, he can recharge his platform accountfrom BA001. He can further create sub accounts to the convergentcommunications account (say UP001, UP657, etc.) and use them forspecific purposes (e.g., gifting to his family with or withoutrestrictions on what type of services allowed for them, or use oneaccount for online and another for offline transactions, etc.). He canalso either set limits for each of his sub account (budget control) oruse the main account limit (the convergent communications account) as afree flow limit for all of the sub accounts put together. In any case,bank's guarantee for the customer payment is limited to the amountspecified for the exemplary convergent communications platform account.

[0226] Also, BA001 need not be a single account and the limit of UP987need not be a small portion of BA001. For example, BA001 can be avirtual account which combines the entire financial portfolio of JohnSmith (e.g., balance in savings account, credit account, checkingaccount, current market value of all stocks/mutual funds, etc., held byJohn Smith) and which can be taken into account to arrive at a monetarynumber for BA001. Also, the limit at the convergent communicationsaccount can be higher or lower or equal to the amount in the BA001account.

[0227] The exemplary convergent communications platform enables thefollowing scenarios: authorization based on only a balance in theconvergent communications platform account, authorization based on abalance in the convergent communications platform account, where theplatform account integrates with the customer account of an authorizedguarantor for real-time or near-real-time transaction (checking thebalance and debit), and authorization based on a balance in theconvergent communications platform account where another institutionguarantees a standing amount, which is the basis of the real-timeauthorization and real-time balance.

[0228] It is possible that in some situations/markets, there is noinvolvement of banks. In such a scenario, a digital debit account can beissued by either a merchant or merchant community or by a telephonecompany or by a third party or by a combination of some or all of theseentities. This digital debit account works in a very similar fashion,except that a party other than the bank issues the account. In thisscenario, the digital debit account-issuing agency may or may notpartner with a bank or a financial institution.

[0229] This digital debit account is different from the e-wallets thatare currently available in the market. E-wallets address only issuesrelated to payment. Wallets focus mainly on the amount of money beingauthorized. Whereas the digital debit account looks at various otheraspects related to the customer (e.g., whether customer is authorized toreceive or purchase the service or not). E-Wallets also do not addressthe issues related to continuous, time based charges (e.g., telephonycalls, download of music charged per minute of download, etc.). Thedigital debit account looks at these issues and allows for a propercalculation of charges. That is, e-wallets do not take decision on howmuch money to deduct from the e-wallet account (they depend on a thirdparty for this). The digital debit account used in the convergentcommunications platform is able to take decisions on how much money todeduct.

[0230] The exemplary convergent communications platform can be deployedat a central site and connected to the telephone company network eitheras a service node or an intelligent network node. The exemplaryconvergent communications platform may also be connected to the bank'scustomer account system, or the customer's credit card system or anythird party system that allows for online/offline convergentcommunications platform customer account recharge.

[0231] For the customer, an exemplary convergent communications platformaccount can be created with two sub accounts. For example, one subaccount is used for online/real-time transactions, which could be forcommunication services or for commerce services or for both. Another subaccount is used for offline transactions. For example, if John Smith hasan exemplary convergent communications platform account for $50, hecould have account A with $40, which would be used for online/real-timetransactions. John Smith has another sub account B with $10. This $10can be transferred onto the user's read/write memory device (either aseparate read/write memory device or phone instrument working as aread/write memory device or any combination).

[0232] When John Smith makes a phone call or downloads music on theInternet or any such transaction that requires real-time rating, theexemplary convergent communications platform would automatically or byuser choice (pre-selected or at the time of the user request) use theaccount A for payment. When John Smith goes to a shop and likes to buysome coffee, or coke or newspaper or any such item(s) that do notwarrant an online/real-time transaction, the exemplary convergentcommunications platform would automatically or by user choice(pre-selected or at the time of the user request) use account B. If atthe merchant establishments, the equipment allows for online connectionto the exemplary convergent communications platform, the exemplaryconvergent communications platform can update (both directions)information related to the transaction/customer profile.

[0233] If the balance in sub account B runs out, the exemplaryconvergent communications platform allows the customer (either by userchoice or by way of preset parameters) to transfer money from account Ato account B. If John Smith runs out of money in account B, he can alsogo to a merchant establishment (which has equipment to update balanceinformation on the read/write memory device) and recharge his account.For example, if John Smith goes to a shop and pays $100, his read/writememory device gets updated for an additional $100 and the next time heuses a merchant equipment that has online connection to the exemplaryconvergent communications platform system, the exemplary convergentcommunications platform would automatically update the information anddistribute the new $100 to his pre-paid sub accounts A & B as desired byJohn Smith.

[0234] The exemplary convergent communications platform can be connectedto the telephone company, merchant networks and banks' customer accountsystem. The exemplary convergent communications platform allows thecustomer to define various recharge criteria based on configurable rulesengine for recharge. Such a rule engine allows for the customer todefine: various means of recharge allowed for the customer (IVR, ATM,direct transfer, etc.), various criteria which together specify whetherit is time to recharge the account or not, and various criteria thattogether determine how much money to be recharged into the customeraccount. Thus, the convergent communications platform system can enablemany services through gateways or other means for its customer pre-paidaccounts.

[0235]FIG. 8 shows an exemplary breakout of charges for communicationservices for use with the convergent communications platform, system andmethod. FIG. 8 includes a column for type of charge, charge decided by,amount deducted by, amounts due to the home network and roaming network,and the basis for deciding charges. For example, a commerce transactionmay need to pay for mobile originated calls (MOC) in the home networkvia a service tax rental and recharge fees.

[0236]FIG. 9 is an exemplary method of recharging a pre-paid customeraccount for the convergent communications platform, system and method.The method shown in FIG. 9 is an automatic recharge. However, othertypes of recharge are within the scope of the invention, includingadditional steps confirming a recharge with the customer, additionalsteps confirming a recharge with a bank or third party, and additionalsteps related to checking time or other variables. The method begins atstart 900, and continues to determine at 910 if there are sufficientfunds in the customer pre-paid account.

[0237] In determining if there are sufficient funds in the account at910, a determination is made whether or not value exists in the pre-paiduser's account. If there are not sufficient funds in the account, themethod continues at 920 to determine if recharge rules are set up?. Ifthere are sufficient funds in the account, the method goes to step 912to authorize service. If the method goes to the authorize service step912, the method would then to continue to end 950.

[0238] If the method continues to “the recharge rules setup?” step 920,a determination is made whether or not the customer has authorizedpre-paid recharge of his account. If the customer has authorizedautomatic recharge of the account, the method continues to the step“recharge from?” 930. If the customer has not authorized automaticrecharge of his account, the method goes to decline service step 922. Ifthe method goes to decline service 922, the method then continues to end950.

[0239] If the method continues to the “recharge from?” 930, adetermination is made to recharge the account by any bank, credit,investing account, or a preauthorized loan. If the “recharge from”action comes from a bank, the method continues to E-commerce with thebank 932. If the recharge is by credit, the method continues toE-commerce with the credit company 934. If the recharge is from aninvesting account, the method continues to E-commerce with investingfirm 936. If the form of recharge is by a preauthorized loan, the methodcontinues to E-commerce with loan company 938. Regardless of the form ofthe recharge, the method continues to step 940. In step 940, theconverging communications platform recharges the prepaid customer'saccount and returns to determining if sufficient funds are in thecustomer prepaid account 910.

[0240] As discussed above, the user can recharge his account from any ofseveral sources. The recharge can be governed by user selections, orrules. For example, a user can predetermine that the first $5,000 ofrecharge is to come from an investment account, and that thereafter,charges are to come from a credit account. In addition, a user canauthorize recharge based on various other variables, such as time,account balances, amount to recharge and other factors. For eachrecharge account, an agreement is set up between the operator of theconvergent communications platform and the recharging entity, and therecharging entity and the customer of both the platform and rechargingentity. The agreement can detail such things as the speed of recharge,settlement time frames, notification from the recharging entity ofinsufficient funds, account balance notification, and other factors asis known in the art. The data relating to the recharge accountagreement, rules, and procedures preferably will be stored in theaccount and/or service manager of the convergent communicationsplatform.

[0241]FIG. 10 shows an exemplary relationship between the dealer 1010,sales agent 1020 user 1030, external carrier 1050, corporate and homeaccounts 1040, VMS subscriber 1060 and the convergent service manager1000. A user 1030 can place an order or order cancellation and enter apin into the convergent service manager 1000. The user 1030 can thenreceive services in return. In exchange for the services that the user1030 receives, the convergent service manager may initiate a paymentfrom the corporate and home accounts 1040. If the user 1030 wishes torecharge their account, he can go to sales agent 1020. Sales agent 1020can then recharge the account in the convergent services manager 1000and receive a commission in return. The convergent services manager canthen forward the account recharges to the corporate and home accounts1040. With the account that is recharged, the user can then authorize apayment to dealer 1010 in return for the services, which the user canreceive. In addition, external carrier 1050 can receive a payment orauthorization for services such as forwarding services, as well asvirtual telephone numbers reconciliation and rating information updatesto the convergent services manager 1000. Alternately, VMS subscriber1060 can receive queries or payments for maintaining voice mailboxinformation, bills and letters, responses for queries, welcome lettersand payment reminders.

[0242]FIG. 11 is an exemplary embodiment of a convergent system forenabling mobile commerce in a roaming network. User device 1130 connectsto roaming network 1120. Roaming network 1120 connects to convergentservices provider 1150. Convergent services provider 1150 can beconnected to the internet 1100 and convergent services provider 1140.Merchants 1160 and 1170 can be connected to internet 1100. The homenetwork 1110 can then be also connected to convergent services provider1140. The convergent services providers 1150 and 1140 are bothorganizations that maintain a convergent communication system withvarying areas of service.

[0243] In operation, the user device 1130 while in the roaming network1120 can connect to a convergent services provider 1150 to initiate amobile commerce transaction. The convergent services provider 1150 thenforwards the request for the mobile commerce transaction to convergentservices provider 1140 in the home network 1110. The convergent servicesprovider 1150 can also be connected to the internet 1100 to contactmerchant 1160 and merchant 1170 to provide delivery of services to theuser device 1130 or confirmation of delivery of goods to the user device1130.

[0244]FIG. 12 shows an example of a pre-paid roaming service activity inaccordance with exemplary embodiments of the invention. The mobile phonepre-paid user Tim at location 1200 whose home network 1212 is in Italy1210 travels to Spain 1220, which has roaming network 1222. While inSpain 1201 Tim wishes to recharge his pre-paid customer account. Tim atlocation 1201 then contacts the roaming network 1222, which establisheslink 1224 to SS7 1240, which establishes link 1242 to convergentservices manager 1250. Convergent services manager 1250 then sends vialink 1244, SS7 1240 and link 1226 Tim's current account information tothe roaming network 1222. The roaming network 1222 can then contact bank1232 in France 1230 to recharge Tim's pre-paid customer account inconvergent services manager 1250.

[0245]FIG. 13 shows an exemplary embodiment of the information data andstructure of a user's account for a convergent communications platform.The customer account can include, but is not limited to, home table1300, request information tables 1310 and authorization informationtable 1320. Home information table 1300 can include, but is not limitedto, the home main number, the title, first name, middle name, last name,address, phone numbers, fax, e-mail, remarks, profession, last billdate, deposit amount, credit limit, credit limit left, current balance,last paid date, active cards, status and status change date.Authorization information table 1320 can include value, quarantine,valid for description, used counter, approved status, latest approvedsequence, topology code and transferred to ROC. The request informationtable 1310 can include, but is not limited to, external code, startstring, coverage, pin number, initial activation code and status.

[0246]FIG. 14 shows an exemplary embodiment of a customer account linkedto a voice mail system for a convergent communications platform. Thecustomer account can include, but is not limited to, customer table1400, voice mailbox 1410. Customer table 1400 can include, but is notlimited to, the password, title, first name, middle name, last name,address, phone numbers, fax, e-mail, status, status change date, profileID, profession, language ID, activated date, last bill date, currentbalance, last paid date, remarks and welcome message. Voice mailbox 1410can include, but is not limited to, operator name status, and import boxnumbers to accept. A voice mail system profile could be added and wouldinclude description, total message link, individual message link,message age, charge, late fee, interest type, prorated, valid until,valid from date, deposit and total message.

[0247]FIG. 15 shows an exemplary embodiment of an interactive voiceresponse system as may be used in a convergent communications platform.The method in FIG. 15 starts at start 1500. The method then continues toplay prompt number 1 to user 1510. After prompt number 1 is played tothe user in 1510, the method moves to waiting for a number 1512. If adigit is entered, the method follows that number to check number 1520.In check number 1520, if the number is a valid number the methodcontinues to 1530. If the number is an invalid number, the methodreturns to 1514.

[0248] In 1514, a determination whether the maximum retry has beenreached is made. If the maximum retry has not been reached, the methodcontinues to play prompt 1 to user 1510. If the maximum retry has beenreached, the method continues to play prompt 4 1560.

[0249] In the Play prompt 2 to user 1530, a determination is madewhether it received a number or reached the end of play. If play promptto user 1530 reached the end of play, the method goes to wait for number1532. If the play prompt to user 1530 got a number, the method continuesto play prompt 3 to user 1540. In the wait for number 1532 there is await until it gets a number. Once a number is received, the method goesto play prompt 3 to user 1540.

[0250] Play prompt 3 to user 1540 then determines whether it reached theend of play or it received numbers. If play prompt 3 to user 1540reaches the end of play, the method goes to wait for number 1542. If theplay prompt 3 to user 1540 receives a number, it continues on to checknumber 1550. In check number 1550, if the number is a valid number, themethod goes to register short code and actual number in database 1570.Otherwise, the method goes to play prompt 4 1560.

[0251]FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing the use of a pre-paid account in aconvergent communications platform for a multiparty settlement. Prompt 1can prompt the convergent communications platform to select a party typebased on previously established rules. The party type can then beentered into the select the party type 1610. A select a party type 1610can be any one of a corporate, home, dealer, or sales agent type. If theparty type is corporate, the method moves to select the division 1612.If the party type is home, the method moves to select the home 1614. Ifthe party type is a dealer, the method moves to select the dealer 1616.If the party type is a sales agent, the method goes to select a salesagent 1618.

[0252] Depending on the party type selected, the appropriate type of IDis sent to view outstanding amounts for the party codes and payments ofthe due amounts 1600. Thereby a user can recharge or establish apre-paid account. The relevant information is stored in view outstandingamounts for the party codes and payments of the due amounts 1600 on theconvergent communications platform.

[0253] Prompt 2 payment method prompts the convergent communicationsplatform to select the method of payment based on previously definedrules. In the select the method of payment 1620, a type of paymentmethod is selected from credit card, bank and cash. If credit card isselected, the method moves to enter credit card information 1640. Ifbank is selected, the method moves to enter bank information 1622. Themethod then moves to view outstanding amounts and party codes andpayment of the due amounts 1600.

[0254] In view outstanding amounts for the party codes and payment ofthe due amount 1600 can then proceed to any of am_di_info 1630am_home_info 1632 dms_dealer 1634 dms_sales_agent 1636 pp_instr 1638pp_credit_card 1640 pp_paid_trans_main 1642 pp_outstand_payment 1644.Thus settling the multiparty transaction.

[0255]FIG. 17 is an exemplary embodiment of a semi-automated method forrecharge of a pre-paid account, and setting up of rules for multipartysettlement that can occur within a convergent communications device. Themethod starts at start 1700 and continues to either select party type1701 and code or view the list of O/S payments 1710.

[0256] If the method goes to view the list of outstanding and Settling(O/S) payment 1710, the method will determine a first or currently duepayment. The method then continues to select payment method 1720. Inselect payment method 1720, the method will then determine the type ofpayment based on previously defined rules. If the rule indicated cash,the method moves to cash 1722. If the rule indicated a check the methodmoves to check 1724. If the rule indicated a credit card, the methodmoves to credit card 1726.

[0257] If the rule indicated check 1724, the method then continues toinsert bank 1725. If the rule indicated credit card 1726, the methodmoves to insert credit card info 1727. The method then continues toinsert a transaction record 1730, after entering appropriate informationas previously stored on the convergent communications platform. Themethod then continues to end 1740.

[0258] If the rule indicated a party type and code, the method thencontinues to step 1712. At the select party type and code the methodthen determines a type of party needing an account update. If the ruleindicated corporate, the method moves to update corporate 1702. If therule indicated home, the method continues to update home 1704. If therule indicated dealers, the method moves to update dealer 1706. If therule indicated sales agent, the method moves to update sales agent 1708.The method then continues to end 1740.

[0259]FIG. 18 shows an exemplary method of generating a report for usewith a convergent communications platform and system. The method canbegin at any of batch information 1820, print order information 1810,lot information 1830, print vendor information 1860 or all card types1850. The method then continues to generating report 1800, and continuesto previewing report 1840. If the method starts at batch information1820, the batch number unit rate and batch number will need to beentered from a memory device on the convergent communications platform.If the method starts at print order information 1810, the PO number, POstatus and PO date needs to be entered. If the method starts at lotinformation 1830, the lot number and lot size will need to be entered.If the method starts at all card types 1850, credit card typedescription will need to be entered. If the method starts at printvendor information 1860, the vendor's name will need to be entered.

[0260]FIG. 19 is an example of the data transfer in a convergentcommunications platform. As shown in FIG. 19, a user device 1900 cancontain a data storage structure such as 1905 which contains end userinformation, the end user enabled account information, telecominformation, billing data capture information and user data captureinformation. The user data structure 1905 can also contain acommunications device call control and billing control and data capturefunction, which can communicate with communication device for payment,and settlement processing and customer care 1940. Internet ISP 1910 cancontain data structure 1915 which contains information on the end user,the end user enabled account, the ISP, the billing data capture, anduser data capture related to advertising and commissions. Data structure1915 can also contain a module for communications device radius control,usage control and data capture which communicates with communicationdevice or payment or settlement processing and customer care 1940.Portal 1920 can contain data structure 1925. Data structure 1925 cancontain end user information, account access information, portalinformation and account management information. Data structure 1925 canalso contain a module for communications, device payment, assurance anddata capture that can communicate with communication's device forpayment and settlement processing and customer care 1940. Merchant 1930can contain a data structure 1935. Data structure 1935 can containinformation on the end user, filling the cart in an enabled account,merchant, billing data capture, and user data capture. The datastructure 1935 can also contain a module for communications, devicepayment, assurance and data capture that communicates with communicationdevice for payment and settlement processing in customer care 1940. Thecommunication device for payment and settlement processing and customercare 1940 can communicate with the data mining/customer relationshipmanagement (CRM) 1950.

[0261]FIG. 20 is an exemplary method and system for multiparty real timesettlement for services and/or transactions made by a customer with apre-paid, recharge-type account using a convergent communicationsplatform. A method begins with end users 2000 initiating the method. Themethod then continues to pre-paid recharge 2010.

[0262] In pre-paid recharge 2010, a user determines in advance,automatically or at the time of requesting service and/or transactionswhat other of his off platform accounts and what amounts related to eachof those accounts are to be recharged into his pre-paid platformaccount. The method then continues to the bank 2020. In bank 2020, fundsare transferred from the bank to the real-time financial settlement2050.

[0263] Real-time financial settlement 2050 receives requests for paymentfrom telephone company 2060, ISPs 2062, portal 2064 and merchants 2066.Merchant management 2070 is the means for achieving the real-time anddirect financial settlement 2050. Merchant management 2070 specifieswhether settlement for the multi-parties involved is to beinstantaneous, delayed, involving additional authorizations, or anyother features as well known in the art. Thus, there are exemplaryembodiments of the convergent communications platform that can settletransactions involving multiple parties over multiple time frames.

[0264]FIG. 21 is an exemplary embodiment of account management device2100 for use in the convergent communications platform. The accountmanagement device 2100 may have a subscriber account manager 2160, anSIM provisioning 2170, SIM distribution 2180, SIM ordering 2190,settlements 2150, voucher provisioning 2140, voucher distribution 2130,voucher ordering 2120 and PIN generation 2110.

[0265]FIG. 22 is block diagram of an exemplary switch manager 2200 foruse in the convergent communications platform. Switch manager 2200 cancontain rating 2230, call control 2220 and balance 2210. Rating 2230 canbe a real time, or by various increments, rating the cost of a requestedservice. Rating can also determine the surcharges or risks involved in acommerce transaction. Call control 2220 can keep track of allsimultaneous debits to a user's account, and send signals to either theuser or various third parties for authorizing additional amounts torecharge the user account, or authorization to conduct recharge, orterminating a call. Balance control 2210 can keep track of theinstantaneous balance in a user's account, or provide warnings when auser's account reaches a predetermined level.

[0266]FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing an example of a business tobusiness (B2B) convergent communications system. As seen in FIG. 23,company 1 2330, company 2 2332 through company x 2339 connect viaInternet 2310 to the convergent communications system 2300. In addition,company A 2340, government 2342, utility A 2344, utility B 2346,merchant 2348 and supplier 2349 connect via internet 2320 to theconvergent communications system 2300. Convergent communications system2300 can be connected or integrated with virtual account 2302, regularaccount 2304 and bank system 2306. Thus, a company such as company 12330 needs only have one connection to the internet 2310 in order toconduct business to business transactions with any of company A 2340through supplier 2349.

[0267]FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing another example of a businessto business convergent communications system. In FIG. 24, users 2400connect via phone 2410, ATM 2412, WEB 2414, WAP 2416 and agents 2418through bank 2420. Bank 2420 connects to the B2B gateway 2434. The B2Bgateway 2434 is part of the convergent communications system 2430 whichalso contains convergent communications device 2432. Convergentcommunications device 2432 connects to the telephone company or othercompany billing system 2440. Thus users 2400 can deposit or transferfunds using a phone 2410, ATM 2412, the WEB 2414 or WAP 2416 or agent2418 to transfer funds between accounts and/or designate a business tobusiness transaction utilizing the bank 2420 to a telephone company orcompany billing system 2440. In addition, as shown in FIG. 24, bank 2420needs only have one connection to the convergent communication system2430 to conduct business to business commerce with many differententities.

[0268]FIG. 25 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for recharging acustomer prepaid account in a convergent communications platform. InFIG. 25, various devices such as ATM 2506, ATM 2504, ATM 2502, ATM 2508,investing firm 2530, bank 2 2520 and bank 1 2510 are connected to X.25network 2500. The X.25 network 2500 is connected to router 2549 as partof the convergent communications platform 2540. Convergentcommunications platform 2540 can contain firewall 2544, account manager2546, customer care 2548 and bank 3 2542. Account manager 2546 can beconnected to database 2547. Thus, a customer user can access his accountin the convergent communications platform 2540 from any remote means,such as ATM 2506.

[0269]FIG. 26 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for recharging acustomer prepaid account using an interactive voice response system in aconvergent communications platform. As shown in FIG. 26, bank 1mainframe 2610 can be connected via X.25 network 2600 to anyone of ATMs2602 through 2608, telephone company 2 2640, telephone company 1 2630and bank 2 mainframe 2620. The convergent communications platform 2650can also be connected to the X.25 network 2600. The convergentcommunications platform 2650 can contain router 2660, firewall 2658,account manager 2656, database 2657, interactive voice response system2654 and operator 2652.

[0270] Thus, a customer user connecting to the convergent communicationsplatform 2650 through telephone company 1 2630 can have his requestrouted through the X.25 network 2600 to the router 2660. The router 2660can authenticate the user using firewall 2658 and determine that therequest should use the interactive voice response system 2654. Theinteractive voice response system 2654 can either handle the accountrecharge, or if the customer is having difficulty, the interactive voiceresponse system 2654 can forward the call to operator 2652. If theinteractive voice response system 2654 can handle the account recharge,the user by speaking commands or entering digits can transfer funds fromthe user's bank 2 mainframe 2620 using the X.25 network 2600 to theplatform account manager 2656 where it is recorded in the platformdatabase 2657.

[0271]FIG. 27 is a block diagram of an exemplary security system used bythe convergent communications platform. As seen in FIG. 27, a personalidentification number (PIN) 2701 can be entered into a user device 2700.The user device 2700 can contain a subscriber identity module (SIM)2702, an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) 2704 and aninternational mobile station equipment identity (IMSEI) 2706. The userdevice 2700 can then transfer any of those numbers required for securityto the telephone switch 2730. Telephone switch 2730 can contain mobileswitch center number (MSCN) 2734 and mobile station number (MSN) 2732.The telephone switch can forward any of the above numbers oridentification codes to the switch manager 2750. The switch manager 2750can contain user account 2752 and authorization module 2754.

[0272] The exemplary convergent communications platform allows forsecure financial transactions (either based on ISO 8583 or any suchsecure financial transaction protocol), which effects the actualrecharge of a customer's pre-paid account. The exemplary convergentcommunications platform provides for various interfaces that allow forwithdrawing money from third party systems (e.g., the exemplaryconvergent communications platform initiating transactions to take moneyout of a customers bank account system) or depositing the money into theexemplary convergent communications platform system by third partysystems (e.g., a customer's bank account system depositing money intothe customer's pre-paid account of the exemplary convergentcommunications platform).

[0273] Thus, in conducting a regular commerce transaction, theconvergent communications platform can have protection from fraud fromcredit card and debt card unauthorized users and a merchant'sestablishment fraud. Thus, the exemplary convergent communicationssystem method and platform can use any now known or later devicesecurity system for authenticating pre-paid convergent communicationplatform users.

[0274]FIG. 28 shows an exemplary embodiment of multiparty settlementusing the convergent communications platform as a settlement house. Asseen in FIG. 28, the settlement house 2800 can be related to banks 2840,merchants 2820, internet service providers 2830 and customers 2810. Theconvergent communications platform, can thus act as a single conduit formultiparty financial settlements, in addition to acting as a singleconduit for multiple services and transactions via a heterogeneousnetworks.

[0275]FIG. 29 is an exemplary screen shot of vendor, merchant andservice provider information for settlement in a convergentcommunications platform. As seen in FIG. 29, various rules forinteraction and settlement arrangements with various vendors, serviceproviders and merchants can be stored. For example, the exemplaryconvergent communications platform can store and display the merchant,the condition of settlement, the value of settlement, the units forsettlement, time stamps, currency, contract versions, valid dates forthe contract and any additional rules related to the contract. Forexample, Satyam online wishes to settle E-commerce transactions afterreceipt, with a value greater than 5, where it is collecting apercentage of total receipts. In addition, the contract is valid fromNov. 23, 2000 through Nov. 23, 2000.

[0276]FIG. 30 is an exemplary screen shot of adding vendor/serviceprovider/merchant information to a convergent communications platform.As shown in FIG. 30, a merchant, for example, Sify@Info.com can havesuch information as contract, valid from, valid till, condition, paymentmode, value, timestamp, merchant, condition, payment mode, value, timestamp and save relating to the merchant.

[0277]FIG. 31 is an exemplary screen shot of adding details aboutvendors/service providers/merchants to an exemplary communicationsplatform. As seen in FIG. 31, such details as full name, address 1,address 2, city, state, zip, country, account number, basic currency,basic units, bank name, bank branch, bank city, and remarks relating tothe merchant can be stored in the convergent communications platform.

[0278] Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have beenshown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciple and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing mobile commerce servicesvia a plurality of networks, the method comprising: receiving in aroaming network from a user device, an identification number and arequest for a service; forwarding from the roaming network, to a homenetwork, the identification number, the request for the service, andadding a service provider identification number that relates to aservice provider and a cost of the service; verifying, by a convergentcommunication platform located on the home network, that theidentification number relates to a valid user account, that the userdevice is authorized to receive the service and that the valid useraccount has sufficient value to pay for the service; providing anauthorization to the service provider, if the identification numberrelates to the valid user account, the user device is authorized toreceive the service and the valid user account has sufficient value; andcharging the valid user account for providing the service.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the roaming network is at least one of a wirelessnetwork, a simple messaging service network, a public switched telephonenetwork, a packet switched network, a circuit switched network, anasynchronous network, the Internet, an Intranet, a microwave network, acable network, an ethernet network, a token ring network and a wide areanetwork.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user device is at leastone of a wireless phone, a wired phone, a modem, a computer, a personaldigital assistant, a pager, a cell phone and a radio transmitter.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the identification number is at least one ofa personal identification number, a subscriber identity module, aninternational mobile subscriber identity, an international mobilestation equipment identity, a mixture of alphabetic and numeric digitsand a hexadecimal number.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the serviceis at least one of a telephone connection, a simple messaging servicemessage, a facsimile transmission, a data transmission, a purchaserequest for goods/services, a data download and a recharge request. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the service provider includes a pluralityof businesses that each receives a portion of the cost of the service.7. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the amount chargedto the service provider.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining that the valid user account does not have a sufficientbalance; determining that the valid user account has authorized arecharge mechanism; and recharging the valid user account using therecharge mechanism.
 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:determining that the valid user account has authorized the rechargemechanism after a user intervention; contacting the user device in theroaming network requesting authorization to recharge; and authorizingthe recharging only if the user device replies correctly to the requestfor authorization to recharge.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein therecharging is based on a user defined rule that specifies at least oneof an account, an amount and a source of funds.
 11. The method of claim10, wherein the user defined rule specifies a plurality of accounts,with a priority of recharge based on at least one of account, pastrecharges, account balance and time.
 12. The method of claim 8, whereinthe recharging recharges from at least one of a bank account, aninvestment account, a credit account and a pre-authorized loan account.13. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing the charging andthe service provider identification number.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein the cost of the service is at least one of a roaming cost, acost of goods delivered, a shipping cost, an airtime cost, a tax, asurcharge for use of facilities, a discount and an insurance cost. 15.An apparatus that provides mobile commerce services via a plurality ofnetworks, the apparatus comprising: a receiver that receives a requestfor a service, the request including an identification number from auser device located on a roaming network, and the service requested, aservice provider identification number related to the service providerand a cost of the requested service from the roaming network; a verifierthat verifies that the identification number relates to a valid useraccount, that the user device is authorized to receive the service andthat the valid user account has sufficient value to pay for the service;a sender that provides an authorization to the service provider, if theidentification number relates to the valid user account, the user deviceis authorized to receive the service and the valid user account hassufficient value; and a charger that charges the valid user account forproviding the service.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein theroaming network is at least one of a wireless network, a simplemessaging service network, a public switched telephone network, a packetswitched network, a circuit switched network, an asynchronous network,the Internet, an Intranet, a microwave network, a cable network, anethernet network, a token ring network and a wide area network.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein the user device is at least one of awireless phone, a wired phone, a modem, a computer, a personal digitalassistant, a pager, a cell phone and a radio transmitter.
 18. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein the identification number is at least oneof a personal identification number, a subscriber identity module, aninternational mobile subscriber identity, an international mobilestation equipment identity, a mixture of alphabetic and numeric digitsand a hexadecimal number.
 19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein theservice is at least one of a telephone connection, a simple messagingservice message, a facsimile transmission, a data transmission, apurchase request for goods/services, a data download and a rechargerequest.
 20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the service providerincludes a plurality of businesses that each receives a portion of thecost of the service.
 21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the senderalso sends the amount charged to the service provider.
 22. The apparatusof claim 15, further comprising: a determiner that determines that thevalid user account does not have a sufficient balance and that the validuser account has authorized a recharge mechanism; and a recharger thatrecharges the valid user account using the recharge mechanism.
 23. Theapparatus of claim 22, further comprising: the determiner alsodetermining that the valid user account has authorized the rechargemechanism after a user intervention; the sender also sending the userdevice in the roaming network a request for authorization to recharge;and an authorizer that authorizes the recharge only if the user devicereplies correctly to the request for authorization to recharge.
 24. Theapparatus of claim 22, wherein the recharge is based on a user definedrule that specifies at least one of an account, an amount and a sourceof funds.
 25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the user defined rulespecifies a plurality of accounts, with a priority of recharge based onat least one of account, past recharges, account balance and time. 26.The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the recharger recharges from at leastone of a bank account, an investment account, a credit account and apre-authorized loan account.
 27. The apparatus of claim 15, furthercomprising a storage device that stores a charged amount and the serviceprovider identification number.
 28. The apparatus of claim 15, whereinthe cost of the service is at least one of a roaming cost, a cost ofgoods delivered, a shipping cost, an airtime cost, a tax, a surchargefor use of facilities, a discount and an insurance cost.
 29. A method ofproviding pre-paid roaming communication services via a plurality ofnetworks, the method comprising: receiving in a roaming network, from auser device, an identification number and a destination device number;forwarding from the roaming network, to a home network, theidentification number, the destination device number, and adding aservice provider identification number and a cost of a roamingcommunication service; verifying, by a convergent communication platformlocated on the home network, that the identification number relates to avalid user account, that the user device is authorized to receive theservice and that the valid user account has sufficient value to pay foran initial use of the service; providing an authorization to the roamingnetwork, if the identification number relates to a valid userinformation, the user device is authorized to receive the service andthe account has sufficient value to pay for an initial use of theservice; charging the valid user account for providing the service; andsending a signal when the valid user account balance reaches apredetermined level.
 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the roamingnetwork is at least one of a wireless network, a simple messagingservice network, a public switched telephone network, a packet switchednetwork, a circuit switched network, an asynchronous network, theInternet, an Intranet, a microwave network, a cable network, an ethernetnetwork, a token ring network and a wide area network.
 31. The method ofclaim 29, wherein the user device is at least one of a wireless phone, awired phone, a modem, a computer, a personal digital assistant, a pager,a cell phone, and a radio transmitter.
 32. The method of claim 29,wherein the identification number is at least one of a personalidentification number, a subscriber identity module, an internationalmobile subscriber identity, an international mobile station equipmentidentity, a mixture of alphabetic and numeric digits and a hexadecimalnumber.
 33. The method of claim 29, wherein the service is at least oneof a telephone connection, a simple messaging service message, afacsimile transmission, a data transmission, a purchase request forgoods/services, a data download and a recharge request.
 34. The methodof claim 29, wherein the service provider includes a plurality ofbusinesses that each receives a portion of the cost of the service. 35.The method of claim 29, further comprising sending the amount charged tothe service provider.
 36. The method of claim 29, further comprising:determining that the valid user account does not have a sufficientbalance; determining that the valid user account has authorized arecharge mechanism; and recharging the valid user account using therecharge mechanism.
 37. The method of claim 36, further comprising:determining that the valid user account has authorized the rechargemechanism after a user intervention; contacting the user device in theroaming network requesting authorization to recharge; and authorizingthe recharging only if the user device replies correctly to the requestfor authorization to recharge.
 38. The method of claim 36, wherein therecharging is based on a user defined rule that specifies at least oneof an account, an amount and a source of funds.
 39. The method of claim38, wherein the user defined rule specifies a plurality of accounts,with a priority of recharge based on at least one of account, pastrecharges, account balance and time.
 40. The method of claim 36, whereinthe recharging recharges from at least one of a bank account, aninvestment account, a credit account and a pre-authorized loan account.41. The method of claim 29, further comprising storing the charging andthe service provider identification number.
 42. The method of claim 29,wherein the cost of the roaming communication service is at least one ofa roaming cost, a cost of services delivered, an airtime cost, a tax, asurcharge for use of facilities, a discount and an insurance cost. 43.The method of claim 29, further comprising: determining a rate toprovide the service to the user; and charging the valid user account inreal time for the service provided at the rate calculated.
 44. Themethod of claim 43, wherein the rate is at least one of a roamingnetwork rate, a home network rate, an airtime rate, a long distancerate, an international rate, a tax, a surcharge for use of facilities, adiscount and an insurance cost.
 45. The method of claim 29, wherein thesignal is at least one of a service cutoff, a pause, a request forrecharge and a low balance warning.
 46. An apparatus that providespre-paid roaming communication services via a plurality of networks, theapparatus comprising: a receiver that receives a request for acommunication service, the request including an identification numberand a destination device number from a user device located on a roamingnetwork and a service provider identification number related to theservice provider and a cost of the service from the roaming network; averifier that verifies that the identification number relates to a validuser account, that the user device is authorized to receive thecommunication service on the roaming network and that the valid useraccount has sufficient value to pay for the service; a sender thatprovides an authorization to the service provider, if the identificationnumber relates to the valid user account, the user device is authorizedto receive the service and the valid user account has sufficient valueand that sends a signal if the valid user account reaches apredetermined level; and a charger that charges the valid user accountfor providing the service.
 47. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein theroaming network is at least one of a wireless network, a simplemessaging service network, a public switched telephone network, a packetswitched network, a circuit switched network, an asynchronous network,the Internet, an Intranet, a microwave network, a cable network, anethernet network, a token ring network and a wide area network.
 48. Theapparatus of claim 46, wherein the user device is at least one of awireless phone, a wired phone, a modem, a computer, a personal digitalassistant, a pager, a cell phone and a radio transmitter.
 49. Theapparatus of claim 46, wherein the identification number is at least oneof a personal identification number, a subscriber identity module, aninternational mobile subscriber identity, an international mobilestation equipment identity, a mixture of alphabetic and numeric digitsand a hexadecimal number.
 50. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein theservice is at least one of a telephone connection, a simple messagingservice message, a facsimile transmission, a data transmission, apurchase request for goods/services, a data download and a rechargerequest.
 51. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the service providerincludes a plurality of businesses that each receives a portion of thecost of the service.
 52. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the senderalso sends the amount charged to the service provider.
 53. The apparatusof claim 46, further comprising: a determiner that determines that thevalid user account does not have a sufficient balance and that the validuser account has authorized a recharge mechanism; and a recharger thatrecharges the valid user account using the recharge mechanism.
 54. Theapparatus of claim 53, further comprising: the determiner alsodetermining that the valid user account has authorized the rechargemechanism after a user intervention; the sender also sending the userdevice in the roaming network a request for authorization to recharge;and an authorizer that authorizes the recharge only if the user devicereplies correctly to the request for authorization to recharge.
 55. Theapparatus of claim 53, wherein the recharge is based on a user definedrule that specifies at least one of an account, an amount and a sourceof funds.
 56. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the user defined rulespecifies a plurality of accounts, with a priority of recharge based onat least one of account, past recharges, account balance and time. 57.The apparatus of claim 53, wherein the recharger recharges from at leastone of a bank account, an investment account, a credit account and apre-authorized loan account.
 58. The apparatus of claim 46, furthercomprising a storage device that stores a charged amount and the serviceprovider identification number.
 59. The apparatus of claim 46, whereinthe cost of the roaming communication service is at least one of aroaming cost, an airtime cost, a tax, a surcharge for use of facilities,a discount and an insurance cost.
 60. The apparatus of claim 46, furthercomprising: a determiner that determines a rate to provide the serviceto the user; and the charger charges the valid user account in real timefor the service provided at the rate calculated.
 61. The apparatus ofclaim 46, wherein the rate is at least one of a roaming network rate, ahome network rate, an airtime rate, a long distance rate, aninternational rate, a tax, a surcharge for use of facilities, a discountand an insurance cost.
 62. The apparatus of claim 46, wherein the signalis at least one of a service cutoff, a pause, a request for recharge anda low balance warning.
 63. A method of providing network independentcustomer care services via a plurality of independent networks, themethod comprising: receiving in a roaming network, from a user device,an identification number and a request for a customer care service;forwarding from the roaming network, to a home network, theidentification number, the request for the customer care service, andadding a service provider identification number; verifying, by aconvergent communication platform located on the home network, that theidentification number relates to a valid user account; and connectingthe user device to the customer care service, if the identificationnumber relates to the valid user account.
 64. The method of claim 63,wherein the roaming network is at least one of a wireless network, asimple messaging service network, a public switched telephone network, apacket switched network, a circuit switched network, an asynchronousnetwork, the Internet, an Intranet, a microwave network, a cablenetwork, an Ethernet network, a token ring network and a wide areanetwork.
 65. The method of claim 63, wherein the roaming network is anetwork that is at least one of operated by a different entity than thehome network, utilizing a different signaling protocol and is located ina different geography.
 66. The method of claim 63, wherein the userdevice is at least one of a wireless phone, a wired phone, a modem, acomputer, a personal digital assistant, a pager, a cell phone and aradio transmitter.
 67. The method of claim 63, wherein theidentification number is at least one of a personal identificationnumber, a subscriber identity module, an international mobile subscriberidentity, an international mobile station equipment identity, a mixtureof alphabetic and numeric digits and a hexadecimal number.
 68. Themethod of claim 63, wherein the customer care service is at least one ofa telephone connection, a simple messaging service message, a facsimiletransmission, a data transmission, a purchase request for goods/servicesand a recharge request.
 69. The method of claim 63, further comprising:determining that the valid user account has authorized a rechargemechanism; and recharging the valid user account using the rechargemechanism.
 70. The method of claim 63, further comprising storing theservice provider identification number.
 71. An apparatus that providescustomer care services via a plurality of networks, the apparatuscomprising: a receiver that receives a request for a customer careservice, the request including an identification number from a userdevice located on a roaming network and a service provideridentification number related to a service provider from the roamingnetwork; a verifier that verifies that the identification number relatesto a valid user account, that the user device is authorized to receivethe customer care service; and a connector that connects the user deviceto a customer care provider that can provide the customer care service,if the identification number relates to a valid user account.
 72. Theapparatus of claim 71, wherein the roaming network is at least one of awireless network, a simple messaging service network, a public switchedtelephone network, a packet switched network, a circuit switchednetwork, an asynchronous network, the Internet, an Intranet, a microwavenetwork, a cable network, an ethernet network, a token ring network anda wide area network.
 73. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the roamingnetwork is a network that is at least one of operated by a differententity than the home network, utilizing a different signaling protocoland is located in a different geography.
 74. The apparatus of claim 71,wherein the user device is at least one of a wireless phone, a wiredphone, a modem, a computer, a personal digital assistant, a pager, acell phone and a radio transmitter.
 75. The apparatus of claim 71,wherein the identification number is at least one of a personalidentification number, a subscriber identity module, an internationalmobile subscriber identity, an international mobile station equipmentidentity, a mixture of alphabetic and numeric digits and a hexadecimalnumber.
 76. The apparatus of claim 71, wherein the customer care serviceis at least one of a telephone connection, a simple messaging servicemessage, a facsimile transmission, a data transmission, a purchaserequest for goods/services and a recharge request.
 77. The apparatus ofclaim 71, further comprising: a determiner that determines that thevalid user account has authorized a recharge mechanism; and a rechargerthat recharges the valid user account using the recharge mechanism. 78.A method of recharging a pre-paid account for services to be providedvia a convergent communications platform, comprising: receiving arequest from a user device including a user identification number forauthorization to use a customer account located on the convergentcommunications platform; determining that the customer account, relatedto the user identification number, does not have a sufficient balancefor the service to be provided; determining that the customer accounthas an authorized recharge mechanism; recharging the customer accountusing the authorized recharge mechanism; and authorizing the use of thecustomer account for service via the convergent communications platform.79. The method of claim 78, wherein the user device is at least one of awireless phone, a wired phone, a modem, a computer, a personal digitalassistant, a pager, a cell phone and a radio transmitter.
 80. The methodof claim 78, wherein the identification number is at least one of apersonal identification number, a subscriber identity module, aninternational mobile subscriber identity, an international mobilestation equipment identity, a mixture of alphabetic and numeric digitsand a hexadecimal number.
 81. The method of claim 78, wherein theservice is at least one of a telephone connection, a simple messagingservice message, a facsimile transmission, a data transmission, apurchase request for goods/services and a data download.
 82. The methodof claim 78, wherein the receiving is from a roaming network when theconvergent communications platform is in a home network.
 83. Anapparatus that recharges a pre-paid account for services to be providedvia a convergent communications platform, comprising: a receiver thatreceives a request for authorization from a user device including anidentification number to use a customer account located on theconvergent communications platform; a determiner that determines thatthe customer account, related to the identification number does not havea sufficient balance for the service to be provided and that thecustomer account has authorized a recharge mechanism; a recharger thatrecharges the customer account using the recharge mechanism; and asender that sends an authorization for the use of the customer accountfor the service via the convergent communications platform.
 84. Theapparatus of claim 83, wherein the user device is at least one of awireless phone, a wired phone, a modem, a computer, a personal digitalassistant, a pager, a cell phone and a radio transmitter.
 85. Theapparatus of claim 83, wherein the identification number is at least oneof a personal identification number, a subscriber identity module, aninternational mobile subscriber identity, an international mobilestation equipment identity, a mixture of alphabetic and numeric digitsand a hexadecimal number.
 86. The apparatus of claim 83, wherein theservice is at least one of a telephone connection, a simple messagingservice message, a facsimile transmission, a data transmission, apurchase request for goods/services and a data download.
 87. Theapparatus of claim 83, wherein the user device is in a roaming networkwhen the convergent communications platform is in a home network.
 88. Amethod for settling a pre-paid transaction to a plurality of providersin a convergent communications environment, comprising: charging acharge to a valid user account for a transaction provided via aplurality of networks on a real time basis; determining a plurality ofportions of the charge that should be distributed to a plurality ofproviders involved in providing the pre-paid transaction via theplurality of networks; and settling with the providers for the pre-paidtransaction via the plurality of networks according to the determinedplurality of portions.
 89. The method of claim 88, wherein thetransaction is at least one of a telephone connection, a simplemessaging service message, a facsimile transmission, a datatransmission, a purchase request for goods/services, a data download anda recharge request.
 90. The method of claim 88, further comprising:determining that the valid user account does not have a sufficientbalance; determining that the valid user account has authorized arecharge mechanism; and recharging the valid user account using therecharge mechanism.
 91. The method of claim 88, further comprisingstoring the transaction and a provider identification number for each ofthe plurality of providers.
 92. An apparatus that settles a pre-paidtransaction to a plurality of providers in a convergent communicationsenvironment, comprising: a charger that charges a user account for atransaction provided via a plurality of networks on a real time basis; adeterminer that determines a plurality of portions of the charge thatshould be distributed to a plurality of providers involved in providingthe prepaid transaction via the plurality of networks; and a sender thatsettles with the providers for the pre-paid transaction via theplurality of networks according to the determined plurality of portions.93. The apparatus of claim 92, wherein the transaction is at least oneof a telephone connection, a simple messaging service message, afacsimile transmission, a data transmission, a purchase request forgoods/services, a data download and a recharge request.
 94. Theapparatus of claim 92, further comprising: the determiner determiningthat the valid user account does not have a sufficient balance and thatthe valid user account has authorized a recharge mechanism; and arecharger that recharges the valid user account using the rechargemechanism.
 95. The apparatus of claim 92, further comprising a storagedevice that stores the transaction and a provider identification numberfor each of the plurality of providers.
 96. A method of providing mobilecommerce, electronic commerce, customer care and communication servicesvia a plurality of networks, the method comprising: receiving in aroaming network from a user device, an identification number and arequest for a service; forwarding from the roaming network, to a homenetwork, the identification number, the request for the service, andadding a service provider identification number that relates to aservice provider and a cost or rate of the service, if the service is tobe charged; verifying, by a convergent communication platform located onthe home network, that the identification number relates to a valid useraccount, that the user device is authorized to receive the service andthat the valid user account has sufficient value to pay for the service;providing an authorization to the service provider, if theidentification number relates to the valid user account, the user deviceis authorized to receive the service and the valid user account hassufficient value, if the service is to be charged; and charging thevalid user account on a real time basis, for providing the service, ifthe service is to be charged.
 97. The method of claim 96, wherein theroaming network is at least one of a wireless network, a simplemessaging service network, a public switched telephone network, a packetswitched network, a circuit switched network, an asynchronous network,the Internet, an Intranet, a microwave network, a cable network, anethernet network, a token ring network and a wide area network.
 98. Themethod of claim 96, wherein the roaming network is a network that is atleast one of operated by a different entity than the home network,utilizing a different signaling protocol and is located in a differentgeography.
 99. The method of claim 96, wherein the user device is atleast one of a wireless phone, a wired phone, a modem, a computer, apersonal digital assistant, a pager, a cell phone and a radiotransmitter.
 100. The method of claim 96, wherein the identificationnumber is at least one of a personal identification number, a subscriberidentity module, an international mobile subscriber identity, aninternational mobile station equipment identity, a mixture of alphabeticand numeric digits and a hexadecimal number.
 101. The method of claim96, wherein the service is at least one of a telephone connection, asimple messaging service message, a facsimile transmission, a datatransmission, a purchase request for goods/services, a data download anda recharge request.
 102. The method of claim 96, wherein the serviceprovider includes a plurality of businesses that each receives a portionof the cost of the service.
 103. The method of claim 96, furthercomprising sending the amount charged to the service provider.
 104. Themethod of claim 96, further comprising: determining that the valid useraccount does not have a sufficient balance; determining that the validuser account has authorized a recharge mechanism; and recharging thevalid user account using the recharge mechanism.
 105. The method ofclaim 104, further comprising: determining that the valid user accounthas authorized the recharge mechanism after a user intervention;contacting the user device in the roaming network requestingauthorization to recharge; and authorizing the recharging only if theuser device replies correctly to the request for authorization torecharge.
 106. The method of claim 104, wherein the recharging is basedon a user defined rule that specifies at least one of an account, anamount and a source of funds.
 107. The method of claim 106, wherein theuser defined rule specifies a plurality of accounts, with a priority ofrecharge based on at least one of account, past recharges, accountbalance and time.
 108. The method of claim 104, wherein the rechargingrecharges from at least one of a bank account, an investment account, acredit account and a pre-authorized loan account.
 109. The method ofclaim 96, further comprising storing the charging and the serviceprovider identification number.
 110. The method of claim 96, wherein thecost of the roaming communication service is at least one of a roamingcost, a cost of services delivered, an airtime cost, a tax, a surchargefor use of facilities, a discount and an insurance cost.
 111. The methodof claim 96, further comprising: determining a rate to provide theservice to the user; and charging the valid user account in real timefor the service provided at the rate calculated.
 112. The method ofclaim 96, wherein the rate is at least one of a roaming network rate, ahome network rate, an airtime rate, a long distance rate, aninternational rate, a tax, a surcharge for use of facilities, a discountand an insurance cost.
 113. An apparatus that provides mobile commerce,electronic commerce, customer care and communication services via aplurality of networks, the apparatus comprising: a receiver thatreceives an identification number from a user device, and a request fora service, a service provider identification number that relates to aservice provider and a cost or rate of the service, if the service is tobe charged from a roaming network; a determiner that determines, by aconvergent communication platform located on the home network, whetherthe identification number relates to a valid user account, if the userdevice is authorized to receive the service and if the valid useraccount has sufficient value to pay for the service; a sender thatprovides an authorization to the service provider, if the identificationnumber relates to the valid user account, the user device is authorizedto receive the service and the valid user account has sufficient value,if the service is to be charged; and a charger that charges the validuser account on a real time basis, for providing the service, if theservice is to be charged.
 114. The apparatus of claim 113, wherein theroaming network is at least one of a wireless network, a simplemessaging service network, a public switched telephone network, a packetswitched network, a circuit switched network, an asynchronous network,the Internet, an Intranet, a microwave network, a cable network, anethernet network, a token ring network and a wide area network.
 115. Theapparatus of claim 113, wherein the roaming network is a network that isat least one of operated by a different entity than the home network,utilizing a different signaling protocol and is located in a differentgeography.
 116. The apparatus of claim 113, wherein the user device isat least one of a wireless phone, a wired phone, a modem, a computer, apersonal digital assistant, a pager, a cell phone and a radiotransmitter.
 117. The apparatus of claim 113, wherein the identificationnumber is at least one of a personal identification number, a subscriberidentity module, an international mobile subscriber identity, aninternational mobile station equipment identity, a mixture of alphabeticand numeric digits and a hexadecimal number.
 118. The apparatus of claim113, wherein the service is at least one of a telephone connection, asimple messaging service message, a facsimile transmission, a datatransmission, a purchase request for goods/services, a data download anda recharge request.
 119. The apparatus of claim 113, wherein the serviceprovider includes a plurality of businesses that each receives a portionof the cost of the service.
 120. The apparatus of claim 113, wherein thesender also sends the amount charged to the service provider.
 121. Theapparatus of claim 113, further comprising: the determiner determiningthat the valid user account does not have a sufficient balance and thatthe valid user account has authorized a recharge mechanism; and arecharger that recharges the valid user account using the rechargemechanism.
 122. The apparatus of claim 121, further comprising: thedeterminer also determining that the valid user account has authorizedthe recharge mechanism after a user intervention; the sender alsosending the user device in the roaming network a request forauthorization to recharge; and an authorizer that authorizes therecharge only if the user device replies correctly to the request forauthorization to recharge.
 123. The apparatus of claim 121, wherein therecharge is based on a user defined rule that specifies at least one ofan account, an amount and a source of funds.
 124. The apparatus of claim123, wherein the user defined rule specifies a plurality of accounts,with a priority of recharge based on at least one of account, pastrecharges, account balance and time.
 125. The apparatus of claim 121,wherein the recharger recharges from at least one of a bank account, aninvestment account, a credit account and a pre-authorized loan account.126. The apparatus of claim 113, further comprising a storage devicethat stores a charged amount and the service provider identificationnumber.
 127. The apparatus of claim 113, wherein the cost of the roamingcommunication service is at least one of a roaming cost, an airtimecost, a tax, a surcharge for use of facilities, a discount and aninsurance cost.
 128. The apparatus of claim 113, wherein the determinerfurther determines a rate to provide the service to the user and thecharger charges the valid user account in real time for the serviceprovided at the rate calculated.
 129. The apparatus of claim 113,wherein the rate is at least one of a roaming network rate, a homenetwork rate, an airtime rate, a long distance rate, an internationalrate, a tax, a surcharge for use of facilities, a discount and aninsurance cost.